quote:
Originally posted by Nobluedog:
One of the things that I don't understand about people today is not looking at the whole picture. Medicare and medicaid, you might say, are on the verge of being broke. You think about how many people in the United States, not counting the children, who are on medicaid that are on medicare. Everybody on medicare is not democrats or socialists. You have a lot of conservatives, republicans, bluedogs, etc. on medicare. I think the problem with welfare, medicare and medicaid is that it needs to be policed more, making sure that the true people that deserve it can get it and the ones that are taking advantage of the system should be taken off the program. I'm sure we have many people on these programs that do not need to be verses many that do.
Now for the people that are paying for their insurance and who are not trying to beat the system but just trying to make a good honest living who like most people want healthcare and security for their family, these people need to be protected too. They need to be protected from an insurance company denying them coverage because of a pre-existing condition. They need to be protected from an insurance company setting limits on their healthcare needs. As it stands right now, nedicare and your private insurance companies have limits, they only pay so much per year and then it kicks in again the next year. Like your dental insurance, for instance, depending on the insurance you have it may pay for two crowns this year but you may have to wait until next year to get the next two.
What people forget is, when President Reagan was elected, he took regulations off of insurance companies, electricity and heating companies, regulations off of oil companies, then you wonder why your gas and oil has gone up so high. I'm all for anyone trying to make money but robbing people blind, there should be a law against it.
OK, JJ, here is the problem with your logic. Medicare and medicaid, which you say are on the verge of being broke, are both GOVERNMENT funded plans. It is no secret that since 2002 Barack Obama has touted a single government payor system. Go back and look at his histroy, it is black and white, and he has said it numerous times. Now there is currently no single plan that is proposed, but of all the ones as of this weekend, they all offer a another government based insurance plan.
NO, and I emphasize NO, insurance company is going to be able to take on a new client IF they have a pre-existing condition such as cancer if they have no previous insurance. It is STUPID (that is the president's word) to think that they can do so. If that were the case, people could sit idly by and wait until they got sick before investing in insurance. The government could however enact a law that would supplement companies that took these people on for major medical expense. Then pass a law that says everyone must purchase some type of insurance or face a tax penalty.
That in and of itself would solve the vast majority of the problems.