Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Healthcare II

One thing people who oppose a government healthcare plan like to do is get everybody worked up that "hardworking, honest Americans like yourselves!!!!" are getting money taken from them to pay for the healthcare of NON-hardworking Americans; knowing it will drive people insane to think that they're funding layabouts. These people know how to push emotional buttons, I'll give them that.

But as a thought of mine now confirmed by this report, there are tens of millions of people WHO WORK (presumably hard) and still don't have healthcare:
In 2007, 37 million workers were uninsured because not all businesses offer health benefits, not all workers qualify for coverage and many employees cannot afford their share of the health insurance premium even when coverage is at their fingertips.

It's not just dudes lolling around in their garages getting high instead of working, laughing at people who work to support their emergency room habits, it's people who put in an honest day's work and do the best they can, but still cannot have healthcare. I would say 37M is a high number for such a group to exist and policy that has led to it should be labeled as a failure.

2 comments:

The Gnat said...

Of course, this big number would include illegal immigrants, part-timers, the self-employed and conscientious rejecters like young adults who choose to roll the dice. I am still apt to blame the insurance industry before the 275 million other Americans who will ultimately be picking up this tab under the Democrat's policies.

Xmastime said...

fair enough - maybe the solution is to have the insurance companies have to ACTUALLY COMPETE, as opposed to insisting on making kabillions just for existing?

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/06/alexander-mice/

“In an environment where private plans are forced to compete with a new efficient public program, inefficient, over-bloated insurers will go out of business, but private plans with good networks of providers or better services will continue attracting new enrollees.”

doesnt that sound very free-market/capitalism etc? the "survival of the fittest" these people CLAIM to espouse?