57% would repeal Obamacare

In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed a “Second Bill of Rights” for Americans, declaring “freedom from want” to be one of four essential liberties necessary for human security. Roosevelt’s definition of freedom included “the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health.” The right to health was subsequently enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Unfortunately, the United States turned its back on Roosevelt’s vision, and as a result our health care system is in a state of ever-deepening crisis. Despite spending far more per capita on health care than any other country, the U.S. has some of the poorest health indicators in the industrialized world. It is the only industrialized nation to deny its citizens universal access to medical services.

Fully one-third of the population lacks health insurance for at least part of the year. Of the 44 million who are completely uninsured, 78.8 percent work full or part-time and spend $80.1 billion out of their own pockets to cover health costs. The lack of available care is especially acute for those living in rural areas and for minorities. The disparities are so stark that whites in the U.S. are expected to live six years longer on average than African Americans.

This record can be largely attributed to the notion that health care is simply one commodity among others, a privilege for those who can afford it rather than a fundamental human right for all. With a system that values profits over people, it is no surprise that health care costs continue to spiral out of control for ordinary Americans even as HMOs and pharmaceutical companies accumulate record-breaking profits.

RAN,
You are forgetting that there are the young and healthy who don't buy insurance, the illegals, those who rather have 'things' instead of insurance.



* There were 45.7 million uninsured people in the U.S. in 2007.
* Of that amount, 6.4 million are the Medicaid undercount. These are people who are on one of two government health insurance programs, Medicaid or S-CHIP, but mistakenly (intentionally or not) tell the Census taker that they are uninsured. There is disagreement about the size of the Medicaid undercount. This figure is based on a 2005 analysis from the Department of Health and Human Services.
* Another 4.3 million are eligible for free or heavily subsidized government health insurance (again, either Medcaid or SCHIP), but have not yet signed up. While these people are not pre-enrolled in a health insurance program and are therefore counted as uninsured, if they were to go to an emergency room (or a free clinic), they would be automatically enrolled in that program by the provider after receiving medical care. There’s an interesting philosophical question that I will skip about whether they are, in fact, uninsured, if technically they are protected from risk.
* Another 9.3 million are non-citizens. I cannot break that down into documented vs. undocumented citizens.
* Another 10.1 million do not fit into any of the above categories, and they have incomes more than 3X the poverty level. For a single person that means their income exceeded $30,600 in 2007, when the median income for a single male was $33,200 and for a female, $21,000. For a family of four, if your income was more than 3X the poverty level in 2007, you had $62,000 of income or more, and you were above the national median.
* Of the remaining 15.6 million uninsured, 5 million are adults between ages 18 and 34 and without kids.
* The remaining 10.6 million do not fit into any of the above categories, so they are:
o U.S. citizens;
o with income below 300% of poverty;
o not on or eligible for a taxpayer-subsidized health insurance program;
o and not a childless adult between age 18 and 34.

b50m,

I've posted similar about five times, to no avail. You must remember, the regressives, like the House of Bourbon, have forgotten nothing and learned nothing -- a perfect example of invulnerable ignorance!