Universal Healthcare

[Jon1]

Do you support it? Why? Personally, I dislike all forms of altruistic-taxes.

[NoJingoLingo]

I support it because we ALL need medical attention at least once in our life time and your health affects every aspect of your life. Health care in this country is too expensive for most citizens and causes financial devastation which affects productivity, social interaction and relationships. We spend far too much as a society for medical attention under the current system which promotes post illness care instead of preventative care.

[BlackSheep]

Do you support it? Why? Personally, I dislike all forms of altruistic-taxes.

Before I answer I have a question. Why do you dislike "all forms of altruistic-taxes"? Saying you dislike a set of things that thing belongs to does not explain why.

I support it fully. It is something we all need, to me it is like policing, firefighting, roads etc. Certainly health care is something we all use far more than police or firefighters and it is not something we want to have to worry about in term of what they cover or not. I think it is reasonable that as a society we should ensure we are all healthy.

I am a experienced white collar worker that has been thrown into some dire circumstances and have been unemployed for over two years. I am also a single parent who is getting no child support. I am dealing with legal, mental and employment issues. I can tell you I am so glad I don't need to worry about medical bills as well. (I live in Canada.)

[barts]

I don't have much truck with dogma like "dislike [for] all forms of altruistic-taxes" driving public policy. It is unequivocal that wherever there is universal, public, single-payer health care the vast majority of citizens are better off based on any indices one wants to use.

I'm all in favor of universal healthcare because, since it first began in the late 1800s in Germany, it has been proven to work, if not perfectly, much better than the cruel alternative.

I don't think someone's dislike of "altruistic-taxes" (whatever those are) should trump most people's like of universal health care. Moreover, in matters of public policy, reality, evidence, and pragmatism should be the deciding factors, not thoughtless dogma.

Lack of public, universal, single payer health care causes enormous misery, suffering, and death.

[SoylentGreen]

Do you support it? Why? Personally, I dislike all forms of altruistic-taxes.

First tell me what "it" is. My bet is it will be defined as a really idiotic way of doing UHC.

[Night]

Why on earth would someone dislike altruistic taxes? Do you realize that when poor people have kids they would starve and be completely uneducated without altruistic taxes?

And I support Universal Healthcare. Not only would it save the country a TON of money, more people would receive treatment. I don't mind waiting in line a bit longer if it means that people can finally get the medical treatment they so desperately need. Damned selfish conservatives.

[Zeebadee]

Do you support it? Why? Personally, I dislike all forms of altruistic-taxes.

Show me a clear, concise, intelligible Universal Healthcare plan, including realistic costs and benefits and we can discuss the issue.

[Night]

Show me a clear, concise, intelligible Universal Healthcare plan, including realistic costs and benefits and we can discuss the issue.

Look at Canada or Great Britain. While they are flawed, their healthcare systems are no where NEAR as flawed as ours.

[m5lange1]

1. It has to do with that part of the American ideal that so many people keep locked out of their consciousness. Promoting the generral welfare of our fellow Americans. One of the things I love about the USA.

2. Even if you are a believer that the plight of your fellow countrymen is their tough luck, no one is refused treatment in this country because they are broke and/or uninsured. The service is still provided and the cost is passed along by higher premiums to those who pay insurance. Can anyone out there honestly believe we are not already paying for healthcare to the poor?

3. It could be a lot better than the current plan if we had the public option that was sacrifced in compromise, but you have to accomidate the paranoids that have been trained to wet themselves if the word "Socialism" is uttered.

[MalloryKnoxious]

Yes. I support universal healthcare.

I didn't always. My opinion ranged from the hardcore conservative to the purist libertarian before I ultimately decided that universal healthcare would benefit our society more than it would hamper it.

Our government is big and corrupt and does a poor job at administering just about everything, but it's tragic to do nothing and continue to watch the issue spiral out of control.

[lsbskins1]

Yes. I support universal healthcare.

I didn't always. My opinion ranged from the hardcore conservative to the purist libertarian before I ultimately decided that universal healthcare would benefit our society more than it would hamper it.

Our government is big and corrupt and does a poor job at administering just about everything, but it's tragic to do nothing and continue to watch the issue spiral out of control.

I say this, not to disagree with your point about government being big and corrupt, but just to apply a little context for comparisons sake:

The Catholic Church is big and corrupt, but not many take the position that it should be stripped of as much authority as possible and can not be trusted at all to administer it's primary function. Exxon is big and corrupt, but not many people take the position that we need to gut it to the point of uselessness to protect the "people". There is no institutional entity, no organizational structure, no aligned set of interests that do not evidence the same problems that government does. Shit, family structures have the problem. An uncomfortable portion of fathers beat their children. An unsatisfactory number of spouses cheat and break their marriage vows. Humans are imperfect. I'm not trying to be Captain Obvious, I'm simply attempting to say that it seems to me that many lose sight of these obvious points. Government will never be perfect. It will never be free of corruption, any more than the Catholic (or Baptist or Lutheran or Coptic or whatever religion you care to name) Church, or Exxon or ADM or ...well, you get the point.

Government is no more or less imperfect than any other institution.

[LetThereBe]

My ideals tend to lean libertarian, though on average I feel socialism is becoming more and more necessary for an "efficient" society.

I find it much more fair and much more ethical if everyone is treated the same... and this only tends to be possible when the state steps out altogether. It is unfair to say that I must pay part of your chilld's therapy and medication, but my grandfather no longer qualifies to get a treatment of equal expense, and I would have to pay out of pocket. It is unfair for society to say that one person is important enough to force me to cover them, but another is not. It is unfair to say this person needs millions of dollars of healthcare costs that you must pay for, but since this other person has an "acceptable alternative treatment" they get far less.
If I pay an equal amount into the system I should get an equal amount back. Unfortunately that is impossible: we cannot nearly afford to pay everyone what the most expensive cost us.

In the United States, nearly half of medical expenditures are the result of 5% of the population.

The High Concentration of U.S. Health Care Expenditures

The libertarian in me says it is fair to let these 5% fend for themselves (or those that freely choose to work on their behalf). This is what is ethical... and in this case also what is most "efficient" socially.

I do wonder if desperate individuals would turn to crime when they couldn't cover their medical expenses... so perhaps there would be some social cost in that regard.