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

To: John Koligman who wrote (6830)	5/28/2009 2:40:46 PM
From: i-node	Respond to of 42652

It is a tough decision to make. Do I want to side with forcing everyone to carry insurance, which would require people to pay their own ways wherever possible? Or do I want to side with a person's freedom to have or not have medical insurance if that is their choice? Of course, along with forced insurance coverage, we're going to get new taxes to pay for coverage for those who honestly can't afford it.

To: John Koligman who wrote (6830)	5/28/2009 4:36:49 PM
From: Lane3	3 Recommendations Respond to of 42652

Study says uninsured are costly for all I'm not sure what the point of that is. Sure, the uninsured are being indirectly supported. So, if the government provides insurance for the currently uninsured out of tax monies, then the formerly uninsured are being directly supported. Six of one, half dozen of the other, no?

To: John Koligman who wrote (6830)	5/28/2009 6:46:51 PM
From: gg cox	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42652

FACTBOX: Healthcare in the United States Tue May 26, 2009 8:53am EDT Email \| Print \| Share\| Reprints \| Single Page[-] Text [+] Featured Broker sponsored link (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress is preparing to overhaul the United States' troubled healthcare system and President Barack Obama hopes to sign legislation before the end of the year. Here are some facts about healthcare in the United States: * U.S. government economists predict that public and private health spending will hit $2.5 trillion this year, taking up a 17.6 percent share of gross domestic product. * Americans spend more per capita on healthcare than any other country at $7,421 per person, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reports. Yet studies suggest Americans get poorer care than people in other industrialized countries that have national healthcare plans. * Private insurance pays 35 percent of this; Medicare, the federal health plan for the elderly and disabled, pays 19 percent; Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program pays 15 percent; 12 percent comes from other public funds; 7 percent from other private sources, and 12 percent is paid out-of-pocket by patients. * The U.S. Census Bureau says 46 million Americans, or 15 percent of the population, have no health insurance. * About 63 percent of U.S. employers offer health benefits to workers, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Those who work at large companies are much more likely than those who work at small businesses to have health coverage. The self-employed must typically pay much more for coverage than those who get insurance through an employer. * Growth in health-insurance premiums has outpaced workers' earnings and inflation since 2004 by a ratio of 4 to 1, according to the Kaiser Foundation. Employers on average pay about 75 percent of that cost. * Obama says he wants to cover more of these Americans but has not indicated how. Options include expanding Medicare and Medicaid, creating a public insurance pool, tax breaks for employers to offer coverage and requiring insurance companies to cover more people. (Reporting by Andy Sullivan, editing by Philip Barbara) reuters.com