Originally posted by: shira
Originally posted by: CADsortaGUY
Originally posted by: shira
Originally posted by: JS80
Why should I subsidize your disease?
For the same reason that I -non-parent - pay property-tax dollars to subsidize your kids' public schools.
Everybody deserves decent health care. Every kid deserves decent schooling.
Wrong. Taxes(and Education for that matter) are different than INSURANCE. Why do these discussions always devolve into people trying to make stupid comparisons?
Yes, everyone deserves health care. However, INSURANCE is not healthcare. Those who choose to not have INSURANCE can still gain healthcare, they just pay for their actual costs instead of pooling their risk with others.
However, just because someone does not have INSURANCE does not mean that I(the gov't) should subsidize all their care.
Your argument is specious. You state that "everyone deserves decent health care." Unstated by you is that tens of millions of Americans can't afford health insurance. CAN'T AFFORD HEALTH INSURANCE, get it?
Now, we all know those uninsured WILL receive health care one way or another. The costs of health care delivery to uninsured people are paid for with/factored-into the insurance rates of those who ARE insured, into the rates charged by health providers (to cover costs they won't be able to recover when they treat uninsured), and tax dollars.
In other words, the health costs of the sick and un-insured are already subsidized by the rest of us, but in a haphazard way that ends up delivering sub-optimal care to the un- and under-insured and randomly bankrupts individuals that get hit with huge costs they can't afford.
In other words, our current system is grossly unjust. The question is: What's the best way to improve it. As far as I can see McCain's plan will only make the problem worse. Obama's plan will cost more, but it will do a lot to address the problem.
By the way, one issue addressed by neither McCain nor Obama is tranportability of insurance. If you leave a company that offered health insurance and strike out on your own, there's a good chance you won't be able to obtain insurance at any price (if you have pre-existing conditions). Why not pass a law that that says that if you're currently insured under a group plan, your existing health-insurance provider is required to offer you the same group plan at the same price (paid for by you) if you decide to change employment? I can't see how the insurance companies could object - they'd still be insuring someone they already insured, and would be receiving the same premiums (plus, perhaps, a small administrative fee).