Health Care Reform... For or against?

This is a very important topic for me... My family and myself while insured one way or another have had negative consequences. My Uncle and his family especially have been hit the hardest. He was diagnosed with colon cancer last year and lost everything he had due to it even while being insured. Why in the richest country in the world should the insurance companies be able to bankrupt people because they get sick? It makes no sense to me ... Here are a few of the positives health care would bring to my state, New York:

Stable and Secure Health Care for New York
How Health Insurance Reform will Benefit New York

LOWER COSTS FOR RESIDENTS OF NEW YORK

* Ending the Hidden Tax – Saving You Money: Right now, providers in New York lose over $9.3 billion in bad debt which often gets passed along to families in the form of a hidden premium “tax”.1 Health insurance reform will tackle this financial burden by improving our health care system and covering the uninsured, allowing the 202 hospitals2 and the 88,179 physicians3 in New York to better care for their patients.
* Health Insurance Premium Relief: Premiums for residents of New York have risen 97% since 2000.4 Through health insurance reform, 2,051,100 to 2,410,800 middle class New York residents will be eligible for premium credits to ease the burden of these high costs.5
* Strengthening Small Businesses: 331,598 employers in New York are small businesses.6 With tax credits and a health insurance exchange where they can shop for health plans, insurance coverage will become more affordable for them.
* Reforms that Reduce Your Costs: Under health insurance reform, insurance companies will be prevented from placing annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you receive. Insurance companies will also have to abide by yearly limits on how much they can charge for out-of-pocket expenses, helping 143,700 households in New York struggling under the burden of high health care expenses.7

INCREASE YOUR CHOICES: PROTECTING WHAT WORKS AND FIXING WHAT'S BROKEN

* Insurance Stability and Security: Health insurance reform will strengthen our system of employer-based health insurance, with an additional 188,900 people in New York potentially getting insurance through their work.8 Health insurance reform will also ensure that you will always have guaranteed choices of quality, affordable health insurance if you lose your job, switch jobs, move or get sick.
* Eliminating Discrimination by Insurance Companies: 8% of people in New York have diabetes9, and 27% have high blood pressure10 – two conditions that insurance companies could use as a reason to discriminate against you. Health insurance reform will build on existing state policies to end discrimination that unfairly charges some people more than others.
* One-Stop Shopping – Putting Families in Charge: With the new health insurance exchange, you can easily and simply compare insurance prices and health plans and decide which quality affordable option is right for you and your family. These proposals will help the 2,590,400 residents of New York who currently do not have health insurance to obtain needed coverage, and it will also help the 672,500 New York residents who currently purchase insurance in the individual insurance market.11
* Guaranteeing Choices: The largest health insurer in New York holds 26% of the market, which limits the choices that you have for finding coverage.12 With a competitive public insurance option, you will have more choices and increased competition that holds insurance companies accountable.

ASSURE QUALITY, AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE FOR AMERICANS

* Preventive Care for Better Health: 34% of New York residents have not had a colorectal cancer screening, and 18% of women have not had a mammogram in the past 2 years.13 By requiring health plans to cover preventive services for everyone, investing in prevention and wellness, and promoting primary care, health insurance reform will work to create a system that prevents illness and disease instead of just treating it when it’s too late and costs more.
* Improving Care for Children and Seniors: 19% of children in New York have not visited a dentist in the past year,14and 30% of seniors did not receive a flu vaccine15. Health reform will ensure coverage for kids’ dental, vision, and hearing needs, and will promote quality coverage for America’s seniors, including recommended immunizations.

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Now lets go a little deeper and see what countries have nation health care, Australia Austria, Belgium, Canada,Cuba, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Seychelles, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, The United Kingdom.

Now lets see the ratings for health care by country:

1 France
2 Italy
3 San Marino
4 Andorra
5 Malta
6 Singapore
7 Spain
8 Oman
9 Austria
10 Japan
11 Norway
12 Portugal
13 Monaco
14 Greece
15 Iceland
16 Luxembourg
17 Netherlands
18 United Kingdom
19 Ireland
20 Switzerland
21 Belgium
22 Colombia
23 Sweden
24 Cyprus
25 Germany
26 Saudi Arabia
27 United Arab Emirates
28 Israel
29 Morocco
30 Canada
31 Finland
32 Australia
33 Chile
34 Denmark
35 Dominica
36 Costa Rica
37 United States of America
38 Slovenia
39 Cuba
40 Brunei

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You can plainly see that universal health care does not mean your going to have the best health care but at least you have health care... So... are you for or against it? Health Care reform needs to come to this country being ranked 37 is unacceptable to me...

I'm sorry iamjesusphish but I'm against health care reform, the reason is in the principle that health care should be the responsibility of the people (including big companies I guess, inevitably) and not the government. This principle is important in the long term.

It means if this principle is applied to its full force, even medicare has to be removed, simple as that. Although the right wingers don't like government intrusion, I bet even they are squeamish about removing medicare.

Nevertheless, if the people want the government to help them in national health care, especially in regard to countering the power of the big companies, I understand, I'm not going to go against that. But bear this in mind, there'll be consequences, and the people will have to give efforts, otherwise the result will be catastrophic, it's a high risk thing to do.

im with jazz on this one. its a personal responsibility that helps increase the independence of the individual forcing them to plan ahead and conservatively spend there income. on the whole its cheaper and can secure better health care.

but i don see a reason why we shouldn't have both. or at least state coverage for students, children and the elderly. it wouldn't make sense to have to go either/or, but its not like thats going to happen sooo. i think its most important to educate people on the importance of acquiring health insurance and that its as important a priority as food and housing.

when it comes to this issue, im pretty sure the state will find a compramise and sit on the fence for a good long time. so luckily for obama, this probably wont be his "no new taxes" fall. thats reserved for trying to pull out of iraq. but who knows.

XP