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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: brushwud who wrote (2462)	10/28/2007 7:28:34 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

How many would weather all possible catastrophes of other types? Should we have "free" insurance from the government to cover all types of risks? Edit - And if so should it go beyond actually insuring against major risk, and extend to normal, predictable, and relatively small expenses (should we have government auto insurance that covers oil changes or at least tuneups, and tire replacement?)

To: brushwud who wrote (2462)	10/28/2007 8:13:14 PM
From: patron_anejo_por_favor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

>>Do you think any level of government should do anything to help the middle-class middle-aged--old enough to have significant life savings without enough time to make it back, but young enough not to qualify for Medicare--if they can't obtain health insurance and do suffer a medical catastrophe?<< When it's distilled down, this is really the essence of the problem. A ruinous health care catastrophe occuring BECAUSE someone is unable (not unwilling) to obtain insurance. And despite other examples being bandied about, it's a much bigger problem than other sources of bankruptcy in the U.S. today. In addition there is a rapidly growing issue of medical underinsurance: consumeraffairs.com Surprisingly, most of those bankrupted by illness had health insurance. More than three-quarters were insured at the start of the bankrupting illness. However, 38 percent had lost coverage at least temporarily by the time they filed for bankruptcy. Most of the medical bankruptcy filers were middle class; 56 percent owned a home and the same number had attended college. In many cases, illness forced breadwinners to take time off from work -- losing income and job-based health insurance precisely when families needed it most.