Rogers Soap Box
Healthcare
I have a relative who has been a staunch Republican for years. He supported George Bush, and was always against any kind of government assisted health care system. He has been self employed for 20 years, as is his wife. They paid completely out of pocket for their health insurance. He has witnessed his personal income drop over the years, as his insurance premiums rose. He then had to raise his deductable to over $10,000 as his premiums were almost as expensive as his mortgage payments. Then, he had a moderate medical expense, in the thousands of dollars that had to be paid out-of-pocket. He could not afford to pay both the medical payments and the insurance premiums. He dropped medical coverage as he struggled to get out of debt for the medical bills.
And guess what. He has suddenly, well perhaps not so suddenly, realized that a government backed health care system is probably not all that bad.
It seems that most Americans are blind to the fact that this could happen to them. A layoff and loss of insurance coverage followed by any kind of medical hit, they could lose everything they worked for.
That is what the Republicans want to keep. There's one word for it: GREED. I've been watching the news lately and the morons are out in force. Just like they were when they were screaming "We HAVE to go into IRAQ before we get nuked!". Guess what folks, they were lying, as I suspected all along. Same thing regarding global warming. Just a few years ago the Republicans were spouting that global warming was a left-wing conspiracy. (Those democrats must be going up into those glaciers at night with portable blow dryers. No, they were faking the photos.) The Republican motto is DENY, DENY, DENY.
Out of curiosity, I looked up some statistics. Yes, real stats, look them up yourself. In 1970, the United States spent about 7.0% of GDP on healthcare. Ten years later, it crept up to 8.8%. But jump forward to 2009, and our projected GDP spending on healthcare will be 17.6%.
I'm not an economist, but I am pretty sure that that track is not sustainable. Eventually it will mean less spending on other items, which means MANY recessions will follow, MANY people without work, and millions without health care. We will turn into a country like India, haves and have-nots.
The Repulicans think everything is just fine. It's ok to go bankrupt. It's ok to let the insurance companies keep running up our tab. Ignorance is not a virtue, my friend.
The insurance companies are not on your side, they are there to make a profit. The United States ranks 42nd in infant mortality. The US now spends 40% more per capita on health care than any other industrialized country with universal health care.
Hidden taxes you pay every day
We complain about the costs in terms of direct taxes for healthcare here in the US. Yet when you buy a car, a TV, or even groceries from the local market, you are paying a percentage of those goods and services to fund that company's health insurance for their employees. If their insurance rates go up, they pass the costs down to you, the consumer, who unknowingly is paying 'a tax', though it's not called that. Since it's not called a tax, we don't care, right?. Now think if there was a label on everything you purchased, that displayed the 'health tax' of each item you purchased. You'd be outraged, right?
All other countries have figured this out long ago, and they spend LESS on healthcare, a LOT LESS. This is not rocket science, folks. Stop being ignorant. The sooner we stop listening to the insurance company, aka, Republican right wing propoganda the better.
Be sure to watch the highly informative PBS Frontline episode link on the right. It walks you through several other countries healthcare systems and how they work for their citizens. Then, compare it to ours.
Healthcare links
Be sure to watch PBS Frontline episode Sick Around the World
Who Killed Health Care by Regina Herzlinger - Amazon Books
What's Ailing Medicine? narrated by Walter Cronkite. First aired 15 years ago