Health Care: A Right or a Privilege? (page 22)

LittleToe

You could place everyone on a social program. This would mean the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the commercial insurance sector.

Where do you think they are gonna find all the "social program" staff from? That's how it worked here.

Eyebrow2

Other countries have proven over and over again that such is perfectly possible.

For socialist countries, perhaps...but I wonder if the entrepreneurial spirit that we have in the US is as strong in Socialist countries. Is it as easy to start a business in socialist countries? I don't know...I am asking.

I am not really concerned with thousands of people being put out of work in the insurance field. Because if there WERE a shift from private health insurance to public, then, I think there would be some jobs created that the private employees would hop on over to public. And the rest, well, if that were to happen, than hopefully they have PLANNED for finding new work.

That is something that irritates me right there...probably a whole other topic altogether. But if there is writing on the wall that there will be fewer jobs in a person's industry, they need to take it upon themselves to make themselves employable in another line of work. THAT is part of planning, not just saving money. (sorry, I couldn't help it...)

This reminds me a group of COBOL programmers that used to complain to me how they couldn't find any work after 2000 at 50 or 60 an hour. But these same programmers refused to go get any training in any of the newer languages. Fortunately, most of the programmers I dealt with paid attention to the marketplace, and put themselves in a position to get additional training so they would have marketable skills in other programming areas.

No job is different in that way. I am sorry, but it is up to the individual to make themself marketable. We shouldn't sustain an industry for the sake of its workers, but for the sake of whether it is actually needed or not.

stillconcerned

Other than military, i don't think there is ANYTHING that the govt does better than private sector.

When you take away the incentive of profit, fat builds in.

When a biz is forced to compete, it has inherent motivation to stay lean, otherwise not.

Ever worked for the govt? I have, and it's a MESS. Full of folk who wouldn't keep their jobs in private sector, given their attitude and work ethic, but can't hardly lose their job with Big Brother. (with, of course, some notable exceptions..)

"Democracy will work until the people grasp that each can vote himself monies from the public trust..."

Alexis De Tochville

wednesday

We have a system already in place, Medicad. If it were more accessable, it could help a lot. The problem is income levels are so very low to qualify. When you reach those income levels , you passed poverty a long time ago., . If they made it available for the working poor who can't get insurance otherwise, it would go a long way toward helping many get some kind of healthcare It's not perfect, but I'm not looking for perfect, just the ability to get basic care , medications. It could work.

Iweds

LDH

OK, eyebrow and Little Toe did not read my post thoroughly.

Because if there WERE a shift from private health insurance to public, then, I think there would be some jobs created that the private employees would hop on over to public. And the rest, well, if that were to happen, than hopefully they have PLANNED for finding new work.

That is exactly what I said! These private sector employees would most likely become public sector employees. Private sector employees are employed at will. If you don't perform to the acceptable standard, soon you will find yourself without a job.

Please re-read my comments on this matter:

This would mean the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the commercial insurance sector. The impact on the job loss would not necessarily be felt through unemployment in the long term, because the government would of course need someone to administer the benefits, pay the claims, audit the utilization, etc; So now you're talking about MORE government employees, and we all know how hard they work, right? ;In the commercial market there are checks and balances for performance, which are very limited in the government. ; Everyone knows once you get a government job, unless you bust a cap in someone's ass, you're not going to lose that job. That is no incentive for a quality workforce

At our core, we are a country founded on the principle of minimal government mandates. Earlier in the thread someone warned that before long we would be looking at a "redistribution" of assets. I think this would be called communism.

Other than military, i don't think there is ANYTHING that the govt does better than private sector.

Agreed.

Eyebrow2

no I read it...I was just taking it further...not worrying about those that weren't able to jump over to the lovely socialistic employment at a new or expanded govertment agencies. I wasn't disagreeing with what you wrote...my "sorry I couldn't help it" was referring to my stealing your argument of planning in finances and health care and applying it to employment issues.

It just seemed to bring up other issues (at least with me) that I felt need to comment on...I probably should have just started a new topic on it...but no one reads my topics, so why bother?

fairchild

We have a system already in place, Medicad. If it were more accessable, it could help a lot. The problem is income levels are so very low to qualify. When you reach those income levels , you passed poverty a long time ago.,

Yessss, exactly!!! The "working poor", although often too poor to provide in their basic needs STILL make too much in order to qualify. Now, when those working poor get ill, their lives are ruined, because they don't make nearly enough to afford private insurance, they don't have the money to pay for more than an occasional visit to the doctor, and they make "too much" for Medicaid.

Confession

It is the idiocy of man that he becomes delusional about what his own nature is and begins tampering with it to his dismay.

My thoughts exactly. Reminds me of the scripture...

(Ecclesiastes 8:9) . . .All this I have seen, and there was an applying of my heart to every work that has been done under the sun, [during] the time that man has dominated man to his injury.

The more authority a "man" has over another "man," the more potential for "injury."

SixofNine

Man, talk about streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetching an argument.

FlyingHighNow

My wife works in the NHS and lauds it. I've worked in it and feel the same. Now I'm a patient I appreciate just how much of a jewel we have in the UK. All politicians here know just how valuable (from a voting perspective) the NHS is. It's times like this I'm glad I live in the UK.
Here's to everyone getting the treatment they deserve.
Ian

Ian, thank you for coming and adding to this thread. As always you are a gentleman. Your comments are balanced, fair and imformative. It's truly a breath of fresh air to hear from a kind hearted, wise person such as yourself. I've thought this from the first time I read your posts early in 2003.

Abbadon, thank you also for your kind thoughts and ideas.

A minority of posters to this thread dig themselves in deeper with every comment they add. How sad. And yet if these posters were to fall on hard luck, find themselves ill and uninsured, the rest of us would gladly pay taxes to support a national health care program that they could benefit from. And since we don't have a national health care program, we'd all contribute to help them privately. We would not judge them or begrudge them. Perhaps only then would the hard shell they've built around their hearts begin to crack.

I will hope they can learn empathy without having to face hardships. And if they do face hardships, I will resist the urge to nitpick and to accuse them of poor planning or laziness.

The level of irritation that I have observed in some, who oppose healthcare as a right for all human beings, is unhealthy. Bitter people tend to end up with high blood pressure, strokes and heart disease. It's no accident that people who are hard hearted end up literally with hardened hearts.

Why should you support a national health care system that we ALL will contribute hard earned money to pay for? Because one day it may be YOU or your loved ones who need to benefit from it.

Health Care: A Right or a Privilege?

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