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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (160082)	2/5/2003 3:50:18 PM
From: i-node	Respond to of 1583503

In 2001, the numbers of Americans without health insurance was 41 million and growing The important point is to recognize that "uninsured" doesn't mean "without excellent medical care". These are two different, marginally related concepts. As an example, in Arkansas (and many other states) a person who can't afford insurance is probably going to end up with better coverage than that provided by Blue Cross or United Health, the two biggest carriers in the state. Medicare provides better coverage for the aged, and the state Medicaid program provides care for those who can't afford any insurance at all. That said, there is a small gap, amounting to something under 10% (probably 6-8%) of people, where some kind of additional support would be useful -- and I would not be opposed to it. However, to suggest these people go without adequate healthcare is just not factual. They get excellent care from county & local health facilities. As an example, a guy I know had bypass surgery two years ago. He was uninsured, but it saved his life. He still owes $50,000 toward that bill, but owing that money has in no way affected his life. He just doesn't pay it. Last week, the guy had a stroke. Without a nickel to his name, he was able to see a neurologist and get an MRI scan ($3,000 or more) to aid in his diagnosis. Is this a great country or what? American MDs are fearful of lawsuits and are less inclined to implement procedures that smack of any kind of aggressiveness. This is absolutely true. Until we get some reasonable limitations slapped on the trial lawyers, I do expect our healthcare to suffer. However, this is a problem EXTERNAL to the healthcare industry.