Peaches:

Maybe.... in some instances. In fact the US has one of the worst rates for "inaccessable health care" of any western country. The healthcare system is .. run on greed - from the drug corps downwards.

Your supposition that if someone "doesn't have health insurance" that they are "spending their money elsewhere" is probably correct. They can't afford to eat and cloth their families, and prefer to do that than spend money on an inflated and most probably "limited" health care policy.

The US is the highest debt ridden nation in the world from the govt down to personal finance (tho this "culture" is spreading to other countries).

It's only my - hardly worthwhile, :2 cents: worth, but I have little doubt the US is the most ripped off nation in the world - a total fantasyland, where kids still go hungry and people die because of lack of healthcare, yet it is proclaimed as some success? It sure is in some areas, - perhaps my "values" are just different :winkwink: I just don't "value" a load of shit TV channels.

Bush will sign anything that he is told to sign. He doesnt think for himself. lol

BTW.. Call this capitalism or whatever - I gotta admire the "face" to enable it.

Check out a simple "medication" - such as eyedrops. They are sold at varying prices - from just under $10 upwards..

Check out the content of this container.. it has .001% of "eyecleaner" that costs between $30 - $50 per litre. The rest is called water.

If my calculator is correct and the zeros are not disappearing - this means that one litre of fluid which costs about $40 is "packaged" to sell out at $41 million dollars.

The adult biz has nothing on that!!! :winkwink:

Thats over 1600 bucks for every person in the US. :)

War. Money well wasted.

cheers cheers.. and that is the exact reason our country will never have a national health care system as long as Big business has a say.

crockett:

There are not called drug dealers for nothing :winkwink:

The Columbians have nothing on the "real" drug dealers and they remain "legal" and cloaked in bullshit.

You can apply the same stats to almost any medication - from asprin upwards. The figures are just as stunning - tho it must be research and development costs :winkwink:

I first noticed this when I lived in Florida - it "seemed" the costs of basic meds was more - it sure is!! :-) I hate theives and conmen!!

When the US govt actually wrote a clause in a health bill which said... tho we are going to issue billions of dollars of orders to drug cartels, it is law that no person will deal on prices of drugs. ie.. the drug cartels are allowed to charge the govt *anything* and there is no room for price negotiation. That is ... fraud.
:winkwink:

What you're failing to realize is that the cost of medical care is high because of what WE have done to it:

Medications: We must test, retest and test again. And then pull the medication and pay out class action lawsuits if .000001% have a bad reaction to it. I also think the patent office needs to get on grip on the pharma patents and not issue a different patent for the same drug with a minuscule change just because the patent is running out. Another thing is how America takes care of itself: There was a recent TIME magazine article about the high cost of prescriptions. The most expensive and widely used were those for depression and high cholesteral. We are a nation that wants to live irresponsibly and then when the illnesses come, we want the government to pay to make us all better.

Hospital bills: Why do you think they are so high? At LEAST half of all hospital bills don't get paid. Ever. Where do you think the money is going to come from? By raising the rates for those who DO pay, which is usually the insurance company.

Insurance: When the hospitals raise the rates to the insurance companies, who do you think they pass those raises to? The person buying the health insurance.

Doctors: Many doctors have stopped accepting ANY Medicaid or Medicare patients. Why? Because they are both such totally hosed up systems. Guess who is going to running the program if we get national health care? You guessed it - the same people currently running Medicaid and Medicare.

Personally, I think health insurance should be required for EVERYONE on a sliding scale. Home insurance is required if you have a loan. Auto liability insurance is required in every state I know of. I have MANY posters on this board say they don't have health insurance, yet they go to all the shows and/or drive a nice car and/or live in a nice home and/or go out partying constantly. I'll see if I can find it again, but I read where the majority of the people in the US who don't have health insurance earn over $50K a year. And you're telling me they are forgoing health insurance in order to pay for food? BS. They are forgoing health insurance to pay for keeping up with the Jones.

I would mind a national health plan on ONE condition: Not only do I get to keep my personal plan, but I also don't have to pay a dime into the system. :)

Oops! I meant I WOULDN'T mind a national heath program under those conditions

To respond to the first one, look at Magic Johnson. He can afford to fly to other countries and get the latest treatment, so I would believe the cure is there --- just not here. Just like stem-cell research, it is a good idea --- but NOT for the government to fund.

To respond to the third one, I want the government as far from this economy as possible. Once the government tries to control the economy (trying to make it do something, ha, ha) only bad things can happen.

To respond to the fourth one, and considering this topic... Education. We spend TWICE as much on education than defense; and the numbers keep going up. Are you happy with the product as of late?

:1orglaugh

50 defense bills

Does the whitehouse have an affiliate program?