A Nightmare of Enforcement

Well, Sue here as a mathematician I can claim some expertise. Because of the enormous waste in for profit insurance (high overhead and physician and patient compliance cost) and high drug company marketing, it will actually cost no more to give everyone Medicae than what we are currently paying.

Len Charlap

Hey Len, I'm glad to hear you're in remission. As far as the giving medicare to everybody...we've come full circle you and I. Who is going to pay for it? Awe, the rub. Sue Falkner Wood

"If you have medicare you will get treatment."

My point exactly. Why not give Medicare to everybody?

PS My leukemia is in remission.

Len Charlap
Princeton, NJ

Hi Lensch, I am sorry to hear you have leukemia, but indeed, if you showed up at an ER in this area you would be referred to OHSU in Portland. If you have medicare you will get treatment.
I will look up your stats, this time, at the Urban institute, but I suspect many of those 22,000 were homeless, addicted or did not apply for health care. I could give you similar stats here in our county; for instance a likable young man with diabetes who was in jail often and lived on the streets but wouldn't give up drinking. Tragedy indeed because he was a pathetic yet likable young man. Someone caused him such damage along the way that he had no desire to love himself enough to live. His name was Lenny and perhaps, if he had had another start in life he would be alive today. People such as this; we cannot go against their free will and make their lives change unless they take that first step. Sue

Last year 22,000 people died because they did not have health insurance (Urban Institute).

I have leukemia. Can I get treatment in an emergency room?

If you want to see a health care system that works, go to any other industrialized country. People don't die or go bankrupt in other countries because they lack health insurance.

Hi Lensch, Shame on you. You have entered the realm of the irrational. To make me look like Jonathan Swift or Marie Antoinette is just silly. I am a nurse of many years who lives in the real world. It isn't theory for me. I propose we find ways to improve the lives of these individuals through education and opportunity. The individuals I know who are getting financial medical help are far more concerned with their kids finding and keeping a job; or if they are elderly, they are concerned about the "cut off" point when the elderly are no longer considered viable enough to receive and MRI or Cat Scan they need. Patients are not dying in this country from lack of medical care; unless they do not seek it. They may die if they have to wait too long for care, grow too old to be considered worthwhile or can't choose the best doctor for their particular condition. They may die if the physicians can't hold the authority to choose sufficient testing without having to run it by some medically ignorant bureaucrat. This proposed health care proposal is not thought out, well planned or fiscally responsible. We can only hope the legislators will take the time to read its many pages before they sign it or do not sign it. Politicians do not know about health care unless they are one of the few physicians who hold office.
Everyone knows we need health care reform but the "how" is the question. I have yet to see a plan that will work, can be paid for and is not going to destroy the finer aspects of our current system.
May I suggest you go to an inner city Emergency Room and observe what is going on there. Let me know how many people you see dying outside their doors. Sue

"I think you have an idealized view of the poor little people that don't have health insurance in our country."

So what is your solution? To just let them die?

Hi Lensch, I fail to see the connection between giving free health care and obtaining an education. Getting an education takes much effort, sometimes application for financial help if one doesn't have the funds and the follow through. It takes initiative and ambition.
I think you have an idealized view of the poor little people that don't have health insurance in our country. Certainly, there are many who are disabled like I am but there are many others who claim disability because they have fried their brains and bodies with drugs and other toxins. Then there are those who arrive illegally and expect health care. Others could take the time and effort to improve their lives through education and discover the joy of self-discovery and self-fulfillment that comes from earning self-esteem as opposed to those who have no ambition to improve their lives and want the government to provide them with it all. Sorry, we just think very differently. Sue Falkner Wood

" We live in a country in which anyone can go to school, get a good education and pursue the career of their choice."

But Sue, this would not be true if we had an education system like our current health insurance system. Conversly, if we had a health insurance system like our education system and like other countries, everyone would be covered, we would get better results like other countries, and it would be cheaper.