Look, its not black and white for sure in terms of the issues and how to fix them, but it is true that the wealthest and most educated people tend to eat better, take care of themselves better and use less services and they are going to be forced disproportionately to take care of those that don't. As we know this cant last. Personal responsibility has to play into this argument. People don't have the RIGHT to every possible health care test in the world - perhaps we need to set a minimum standard of health care but force people to make decisions - just like any other economic decision that is made in this world.
Free
Please never mistake me for someone who does not believe in personal responsibility. I am all for helping folks out when in need, but I am NOT in favor of a never ending free lunch, except for those who honestly cannot do for themselves. The gene pool is not always kind to some people, and there is an honest limit to their capabilities. There are a lot of reasons for that, some of which can be fixed, and some that will never be fixed. I have worked with groups of people who honestly don't know that when they have a job they need to have an alarm clock, be at work on time, etc. They were never taught about work ethics, generally because they had no good examples set. White and black. Most of them WANT to work. I have personally experienced age discrimination the past few months trying to find a job in the field I have over 12 years experience in doing, and even willing to take a dramatic cut in pay just to get my foot in the door and prove my own abilities. Suzanne is experiencing the same thing. Suzanne currently has NO health insurance. The company I work for offers health insurance for their 200+ employees, and it's Blue Cross, but it's not worth a chit because of the huge deductibles that must be paid, and the employees share is VERY expensive. $500 a month for family coverage. Do the math if you're making 10 bucks an hour, or even a lot more than that. That's the same as their house payment in many cases. So their choice, despite the fact that they are hard workers, and doing the best they are capable of doing, or have not been in the right place at the right time to do better, is to eat and have a decent roof over their head, and pray that they don't get really sick, or their kids. Two nights in the hospital, and a relatively simple bladder surgery...the hospital bill for me was well over 15K. Didn't cost me a dime because my employer at the time furnished great health insurance, and my cost was 50 bucks a month. That same problem now would have me paying about 7K of that out of pocket, if I did not have great health insurance because I worked 30 years for the State and get it through my pension plan.
Education is the key, but those systems are suffering badly as well, for a variety of reasons.
My point is that we are all paying the costs of a poor health system for those who do not make enough money to pay the exorbitant premium costs that even adequate health care costs. No doubt that we have some of the most technologically advanced medical care in the world, and some of the best doctors available...for those who can afford it. But we've got to have service workers, clerical support, and the myriad of other jobs out there that pay poor wages, and the people simply can't do more than they are doing.
Something will give, whether we like it or not. Proactively tackling a problem is generally a better solution that reacting, from my personal experience.
There are no simple solutions to complex problems, and sticking our collective heads in the sand and hoping it goes away is not going to solve any of them.
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Topic: Taxes & the elections (Read 2984 times)