OMG, are you stupid? What part of 40 million working Americans don't have health coverage don't you understand.

You don't work, why should my tax dollars pay for your healthcare? Do you really think that your measly little non-combat time in the military qualifies you for YEARS of expensive medical coverage? Sorry, no, I don't think so.

What about those people that do work, that DO pay taxes, but their employer doesn't have health coverage and it's too expensive to get it on yoru own? We had our insurance meeting today, and it was asked how much does it cost the company to cover each employee. His answer, about $1000 per employee per month. Now, you want to tell me exactly how someone making $7.50 an hour is going to be able to afford to pay that?

I don't think it's any different from property insurance. You are protecting yourself from monetary loss. Or as you have mentioned, protecting your life. It would seem the importance of preparing for said loss would be an extreme priority to everyone.

Fair enough.. you yourself have fought your way out of poverty, and you see no reason that other people shouldn't be able to. Now that may all be well and dandy, but the simple fact is the many DO NOT. Now the question is, that if a person CAN'T help themselves, should society leave them behind?

No human can ever judge whether a person SHOULD be able to afford healthcare. Fact is that neither you, me nor any other person can evaluate whether they "deserve" poverty or not. We also cannot judge whether they deserve healthcare or not. It is such an individual thing, that varies from case to case that you cannot hope to weed the "deserving" from the "undeserving" ( both are purely subjective evaluations, which may mean different things to different people ).

So you are faced with a situation, where you cannot judge eligibility, indeed where NOONE can truly judge elegibility. In this situation you can choose to withhold healthcare across the board, you can choose to provide healthcare across th board, OR you can choose to leave it up to a profit making corporation to judge the "eligibility" of the sick. The first choice will give you a sicker population, the second will give you a healthier population, and the last is what you got now.

I will always err on the side of caution. I would heal 10 people too many rather than 1 person too little. Hence my support for universal helathcare.

YOu say that she may have signed it "knowingly or UNKNOWINGLY". Dude.. think about it.. should the price of ignorance be death?? if she didn't know what she was signing, should she pay the ultimate price? Even if she lied, does she deserve to be thrown out to die?

YOu are right that the insurance company cannot run from its contractual obligation, but it can (and DOES ) try to cut costs ( cheaper operations in India ) try to weasel out of it ( deny the claim first time and only release the payment upon litigation) or just plain frame the contract in such a way that the chance of a payout becomes minimal ( fine print, extra clauses etc.). The fact is that these are all perfectly fair tactics if we agree that the health of the corporation is paramount. If however we believe that the health of the PEOPLE is paramount, you cannot allow any institution to play around with people's health like that.

Insurance companies add a profit matrix to the healthcare scenario which is by its very existence unethical. The question for them becomes " is it financially feasible for us to watch out for this person's health". And that is tragic.

I bring up the bitterness aspect because your whole opposition to universal healthcare is not based on its pros and cons. it is not based on opposition to the advantages of universal health. Rather your opposition seems to come from a " i managed it myself so i aint gonna look after anybody else" attitude.

Universal healthcare makes sense, socially, economically and ethically. I don't see any evidence to the contrary.. i only see an unwillingness to help others.

Just a little addendum.. it is a fallacy to believe that the taxpayers will be "footing the bill". the simple fact is that if there was universal healthcare you wouldn't be paying money to a company to make a profit. Rather every penny would be utilized to keep YOU and your FELLOW CITIZENS healthy..

LIke i said the same money you pay to the insurance company goes to the helathcare system and you can rest at night knowing the you are 100% covered .. as opposed to your current insurance which (inspite of big ass payments) might still deny to cover you in certain situations.

You are as much of a winner with universal healthcare as anybody else.... the only losers are the insurance companies and i personally think that's a GREAT thing.

It's spelled 'dumbass', dumbass.

Oh, and BTW, when was the last time YOU paid taxes?

Exactly right,hkbajwa. Insurance companies and the market have no place in health care. It is unethical and part of the main reason we have so many problems with the system. Health care is not a privilege, it is a right. And the Congress, Senate and the rest of the government have great coverage that we the taxpayers pay for, even the taxpayers who don't have health coverage themselves.

I meant to spell it like that. Like "f"n friggin etc. But thank you for getting what I meant.
My wife makes mid $70's and is one promotion away from possible $100K. We pay plenty of taxes. And I worked up until shortly after my son was born. Once again you seem to farting on the keyboard stuff you have no clue about.

Health care is no more a right than food on the table or housing. And the government can't keep everyone in those either. And they are much cheaper than health care. I don't want "my" or "my family" healthcare to be lumped in with those that have no idea of how to take care of themselves. I am one of the majority of people that ARE insured and happy with the service I am getting.
With all the drug addicts, smokers, lazy people out there, I'm not surprised that there are 40 million people without health care. That's not my problem. I know it's a hard line on the subject, but I don't care. My priority is to take care of "my" family first. Everyone else is an after thought. If I want to help someone else, I'll give to a charity.