Anyone else see "Sicko"?

Anonymous

Amy, I will be paying for Medicare when I'm 65 AND I will be paying for my supplement.  Medicare alone is not enough.

I refuse to give Michael Moore 1 cent of my money.  He's rich.  Perhaps he could give some aid to those who need it.

My mom is on Medicaid.  She's in a nursing home.  Medicaid is state run. She gets medical care free.  She goes to the hospital FREE.  Yes, they only hold her room for so many days.  Then she/we would have to pay money to insure that her room was still there for her.

Taxes will go sky high if we have socialized medicine.  You do not get something for nothing.

Amy says: 

"It's a crime that in this, one of the richest countries in the world so many of our citizens don't have health care. I'm willing to sacrifice some of what I have if it means everyone is covered."

Perhaps since we're such a rich country we should start keeping our money here at home instead of sending it around the world to all the countries who hate us.  Perhaps it's time to take care of our own.

I have sacrificed for others.  I have help pay for medical care via taxes for some uninsured.  I continue to pay for property tax which some of it goes toward the public school system which we didn't use.  I could go on and on about taxes.

How many women have you seen having babies without fathers.  Do you not think we're paying for them?  We pay for children's healthcare and I do not mind that one bit.  There's a lot of work that needs to be done and some of it is wasteful spending, freeloaders (I've seen those first hand), those who minipulate the system and the list goes on and on.

I'm not a "mean-spirited" person.  Just the opposite.  I will do anything I can for another person if it's possible.  I'm not stingy.

There ARE no easy answers.

Shirley

NoH8

Shirley, a large part of the profits Michael Moore makes from his documentaries goes to charity. Whether or not you like his work makes no difference to me, but it would be helpful if you did some research before making judgments about people.

I don't think you're stingy. You impress me as someone who's very generous. I agree that we need to take care of our own. The billions we spent on this war based on lies and/or faulty information we could have made a dent in covering more people.

I'm on medicare and I have no complaints. It's not perfect. I have copays and I get by fine without a supplement because I have doctors who understand that sometimes I can't pay it all at once. I slip through the cracks of also being able to get medicaid.

It's not just single mothers that need medicare for their kids. The the working poor also need it for their kids. Theoretically all kids in are eligible for insurance throught the chip program.

You're right that there are no easy answers.

Blundin2005

ummmmm



http://www.npr.org/news/specials/housingfirst/nprstories/020730.pittsburgh/index.html



This is an excellent documentary ....ALL social issues can fall under this umbrella of "leave it up to someone else".



This push back is in proportion to the decreased population of the economic middle class in US....think about it.

If you're scratching your head saying "what the hell is she talking about?" then think about the idea that we humans don't was the "s*#t to run downhill" to OUR YARDS. It doesn't mean that the topic is unique to this problem....even healthcare issues fall into this class...it's time for all of us to take care of your "yards" together if we don't want to deal with "what" rolls downhill!

Rosemary44

I have no idea what people do when they don't have insurance.  Ok, they can go to an ER for a lump found, maybe.  I really don't know.  Will the hospital do a mastectomy for free?  Who will be their Onc?  Will he/she see a patient for free?  Then what about the drugs?  These people truly cannot afford the treatments.  I'm talking about working people who do not have insurance.  What happens to them?   

Anonymous

Marilyn, I forgot to answer a question you asked about my sister-in-law.

".....about your sister-in-law....I'm very glad to hear that she received the care needed. I'm not certain that I understood well why she didn't feel a need to pay anything for the care, was she from a country that provide this type of care to their citizens?"

She didn't pay the 500 or so dollars because she didn't believe she had to...you know...the ones who feel like they are "entitled."  She felt they did not find her problem so she didn't have to pay it. 

No, she's was living here right in North Carolina.  I took her to Duke's clinic for people who were low income.  Duke is a large teaching hospital where I received my chemo and have seen other doctors there.  Yes, I have paid!  LOL 

If you take your animal to the vet and they don't know what's wrong with the pet because the pet cannot talk you have to pay the vet anyway.  LOL  I have spent TONS of money on pet care which could not be fixed!  My daughter to her cat to the vet and he had to have emergency surgery.  They opened him up and found he was full of cancer.  My daughter had to make the decision to not "bring him back" from surgery.  However, she still had to pay the vet a little over $2,000 for the surgery.

There are people who do feel entitled.  Healthcare will not be free if we socialize it.  I think I should back out of the converstation.

Shirley

Blundin2005

Hi Shirley,



Please don't feel to back out of any conversation...you have much to offer. If I seem to get intense about this topic, it's because I spent 20 years working on the inside of a hospital, ... not for something you said or didn't say.



Many years ago I had a choice to work in real estate on Rittenhouse Square or for a Hospital on Spruce St. I took the hospital work because I thought that I could "do some good". I did for a long time do some good. But the system changed into an industry I didn't want to be part of, and I was loosing respect for many of the participants in this drama. Maybe I was one of the weak ones and couldn't stomach the paradox unfolding. Many others remained and survived very well. But it just didn't feel right to me...like wearing clothes that didn't fit anymore. So I put my houses on the market with the intent to downscale and leave behind the work that became too corporate for my taste. In the meantime, I met my now husband. Life sure is interesting how it can present to us sometimes. I'm very pleased with the choices I've made for myself though...and that's all we ever have...choices to make...for ourselves.



Best wishes to all....as always.

TenderIsOurMight

Rosemary,



Women and men who have no health insurance yet some income are truly in the deep financial medical hole.



A group of us gathered together to help a sister with BC without insurance. We literally went into our doctors offices, hospitals, etc and begged for her treatment. We picked up bills, signed long term payment commitments with hospitals (they were the toughest on us), and kept on top of it all: mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation, hormones.



My own oncologist came to the plate the quickest. He's a stand up kind of doctor.



I think it takes a village for those lucky ones who have a village around them.



Tender