Mandatory Medical Coverage...poor people follow me!!

[papertrail]

what kind of crap is this? Mass. Bill Requires Health Coverage (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/04/AR2006040401937.html)...and who defines what is affordable?


those earning between [less the poverty line] and three times the poverty-level amount would be able to buy subsidized policies with premiums based on their ability to pay. though no maximum premium is set in the bill, legislators' intent seems to be for it to top out at about $200 to $250 per month.
that amount could prove to be a big deal for some.

if i deny your mandatory coverage will i be denied service if i’m in an emergency room?.... how long would i be fined?.... is it a crime if i refuse?

so the poor person could potentially be denied medical services because their crappy free policy doesn’t cover it?

i don’t care for societal moochers and i understand how appealing it is to have every person covered by medical insurance but this doesn’t sit well.

[kuranes]

Yi-i-i- Yii

I see more and more of this "it's a crime to be poor" trend stuff.

I share your misgivings.


what kind of crap is this? Mass. Bill Requires Health Coverage (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/04/AR2006040401937.html)...and who defines what is affordable?


that amount could prove to be a big deal for some.

if i deny your mandatory coverage will i be denied service if i’m in an emergency room?.... how long would i be fined?.... is it a crime if i refuse?

so the poor person could potentially be denied medical services because their crappy free policy doesn’t cover it?

i don’t care for societal moochers and i understand how appealing it is to have every person covered by medical insurance but this doesn’t sit well.

[TelecomClone]

I find this bill to be intensely annoying. Is it really a good idea to guarantee insurance companies a steady income? I thought the idea was to drive the cost of insurance down, not up; this only makes it easier for said companies to charge more, because they've no longer to worry about losing business. Beyond that, I've got a real problem with the concept in general. I'll decline health insurance if I damn well feel like it.

[Claverhouse]

What actually happens in the US if there's a multiple car-crash and no quick way of identifying the victims ? I assume they'd get the best immediate attention regardless. But if one of them hasn't got insurance what's the outcome ? Do they have to pay afterwards ? Suppose they have no money nor the prospect of earning enough to cover it ?


Claverhouse :ph34r:

[bergenski]

In Denmark citizens give the government half their income and in return get taken care of from cradle to grave...they have a very high satisfaction of life in Denmark. Students are *paid* to study there, if I have it right...they don't pay...of course their earning power is less...still, it seems like a better system to me, if not better weather...(related to OP: it seems they have a fine health care system, though perhaps the new Danish person could expand more...)

[last_caress]

Wouldn't Jesus support socialized medicine?

[papertrail]

In Denmark citizens give the government half their income and in return get taken care of from cradle to grave...
i imagine that trying to happen here and it tickles the hell of me.

[TelecomClone]

What actually happens in the US if there's a multiple car-crash and no quick way of identifying the victims ? I assume they'd get the best immediate attention regardless. But if one of them hasn't got insurance what's the outcome ? Do they have to pay afterwards ? Suppose they have no money nor the prospect of earning enough to cover it ?
I'd rather carry a card that said "if medical bill will exceed x tens of thousands of dollars, just let me die" than be forced to entertain health insurance for that reason alone. What usually happens is that people have their credit ruined or go into debt for years.

[ApeTheDog]

I cannot imagine being denied medical care if you need it. Does this actually happen? That is most inhumane.

[bergenski]

You know, they say it is expensive but U.S. healthcare itself is the finest in the world...

[papertrail]

I'd rather carry a card that said "if medical bill will exceed x tens of thousands of dollars, just let me die" .if you end up with the free coverage you may not need to tell them



What usually happens is that people have their credit ruined or go into debt for years.
bah!! that talk is unamerican. where are you from? what have bankruptcy laws to take care of th...

[booyalab]

Even though I dont currently have medical insurance, it's like chicken soup for my brain knowing the government still can't fuck up healthcare.

[Lee]

Even though I dont currently have medical insurance, it's like chicken soup for my brain knowing the government still can't fuck up healthcare.I want some of that chicken soup, but the government has already fucked up healthcare here... I should move.

[Snowflake]

if i deny your mandatory coverage will i be denied service if i’m in an emergency room?

You can never be denied ER treatment, even if you walk in with no insurance and money and are homeless.

[Dom]

I want some of that chicken soup, but the government has already fucked up healthcare here... I should move.

That is a point of conjecture, how exactly have they fucked it up?

The wait times are shorted, the services offered extended........

[kuranes]

Never is a long time . .

Wonder what the penalty is for getting caught without health insurance?

[bergenski]

I am happy to be near Boston, some of the best medical services in the world...I was in Alaska for a little while...that was scary...what kind of doctors do you think end up in Alaska?

[Lee]

That is a point of conjecture, how exactly have they fucked it up?

The wait times are shorted, the services offered extended........The NHS eats up about half the budget, they get far less out of it than they put in and waste millions of tax payers money on doomed ventures.

The managers couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery, it's a bloated mess that will come crumbling down in a few years. The best thing the NHS is good for is for fiddling statistics.

[last_caress]

Never is a long time . .

Wonder what the penalty is for getting caught without health insurance?

The comfy chair.

[ApeTheDog]

You know, they say it is expensive but U.S. healthcare itself is the finest in the world...

Strange, because they say the same thing over here about Belgian health care.

It costs 20 euro to visit a doctor over here, hospitals admit you without you having to present a credit card, and the waiting lists are ridiculously short - to the degree where many people from neighbouring countries come to Belgium to have surgery done on them.

I am entirely in favor of the following two things, which US healthcare doesn't provide:

1. Medicines and surgery should be affordeable for all.
2. Dead people are automatically made into organ donors unless they specify they do not want it to happen to them. The reverse of what happens in the US I believe, and imo a way better system.

[bergenski]

Strange, because they say the same thing over here about Belgian health care.

It costs 20 euro to visit a doctor over here, hospitals admit you without you having to present a credit card, and the waiting lists are ridiculously short - to the degree where many people from neighbouring countries come to Belgium to have surgery done on them.

I am entirely in favor of the following two things, which US healthcare doesn't provide:

1. Medicines and surgery should be affordeable for all.
2. Dead people are automatically made into organ donors unless they specify they do not want it to happen to them. The reverse of what happens in the US I believe, and imo a way better system.

I don't think the system in the US is the best, but the services themselves are supposed to be the finest in the world...

[kuranes]

The comfy chair.

As long as it has wheels on it and people trundling me in it from one room to another. "Make way for the steamship Missouri !"

[ApeTheDog]

I don't think the system in the US is the best, but the services themselves are supposed to be the finest in the world...

That's possible. I'm sure the best cosmetic surgeons in the world live in the USA. But I don't know if it is true in general or not.

You hear a lot of 'The USA is the best in the world in' things over here - including that it's the 'home of the free' (ahm, not when it comes to the press, or politics, or moral issues like abortion and the death penalty) - I just don't believe these things unless I see them coming from a credible source.

Because, if there is one thing I know the USA truely is the best at in the world, it is hype.

[booyalab]

I don't think the system in the US is the best, but the services themselves are supposed to be the finest in the world...
right, and then the services would take a turn for the worse if made 'affordable'. Hospitals and medical professionals could and would rely on government subsidies instead of quality to be profitable.

[booyalab]

There's a reason you find better service and products at a bookstore than a public library.

[mgb]

right, and then the services would take a turn for the worse if made 'affordable'. Hospitals and medical professionals could and would rely on government subsidies instead of quality to be profitable.

I don't know about that.

[bergenski]

That's possible. I'm sure the best cosmetic surgeons in the world live in the USA. But I don't know if it is true in general or not.

You hear a lot of 'The USA is the best in the world in' things over here - including that it's the 'home of the free' (ahm, not when it comes to the press, or politics, or moral issues like abortion and the death penalty) - I just don't believe these things unless I see them coming from a credible source.

Because, if there is one thing I know the USA truely is the best at in the world, it is hype.

Trust me, I am not hearkener of the US-is-best message...however, I did see an exhaustive report by Tom Brokaw on the health care system and he delineated that the health care resources and services in the US are the most effective and advanced in the world...you can believe him or not, I'm just repeating what he said.

[papertrail]

You can never be denied ER treatment, even if you walk in with no insurance and money and are homeless.
i like that^....but that was pre mandatory medical. does it still apply in face of the new law? if i walk in with a swollen neck (i dunno) and have no coverage which is against the law now, they still have to see me? i'm hoping yes of course.

so if i was homeless or illegal i could get free medical treatment with all the bells and whistles like the olden days but if i'm a struggling american, i'd have to pay only to receive limited services or be billed an absurb amount?

[booyalab]

I don't know about that.
well it's what happens in the rest of available examples where one service has both a government-run version and a privately owned version.
education, books, disaster relief, transportation, etc.

[ApeTheDog]

Yes, because the hypothesis must surely be more right than the perfectly working examples that exist right now.

[papertrail]

1. Medicines and surgery should be affordeable for all.
2. Dead people are automatically made into organ donors unless they specify they do not want it to happen to them. The reverse of what happens in the US I believe, and imo a way better system.

1. ...that seems to be america's problem.
2. mandatory recycling...hee-hee

[booyalab]

Yes, because the hypothesis must surely be more right than the perfectly working examples that exist right now.
I dont have firsthand experience of foreign government run healthcare, just like you dont have experience of American healthcare. But I can get a pretty good idea of what would happen to ours, since it has happened with every other example I gave in my previous post. All examples I am very familiar with.

[mgb]

well it's what happens in the rest of available examples where one service has both a government-run version and a privately owned version.
education, books, disaster relief, transportation, etc.

I disagree with your examples.

[nottaprettygal]

I dont have firsthand experience of foreign government run healthcare, just like you dont have experience of American healthcare. But I can get a pretty good idea of what would happen to ours, since it has happened with every other example I gave in my previous post. All examples I am very familiar with.

I read one study referred to as the "Eurofetus" study where in the U.S., only half of patients at risk are being tested with ultrasound procedure that are being tested in Europe. The procedure was three times as accurate in Europe as it was in the U.S. and at a quarter of the cost.

So there's one comparison of health care systems.

[ApeTheDog]

I dont have firsthand experience of foreign government run healthcare, just like you dont have experience of American healthcare. But I can get a pretty good idea of what would happen to ours, since it has happened with every other example I gave in my previous post. All examples I am very familiar with.

I'm not making any claims about American healthcare. The only point I'm making is that quality of service and whether or not health care is government-organised, aren't related.