Plea from Fellow Agent

[Dave020]

Not only are there 47m+ US citizens whose only access to health care is the emergency room, but, while having the world's most expensive health care, according the WHO's last health-care ranking, the US ranked an unimpressive 37th, right between #36 Costa Rica and #38 Slovenia.
If health care is supposed to be part of the so-called Amer Dream, George Carlin was absolutely right.

47m - 17m illegal aliens (not US citizens) = 30m (this as of today according to the US government figures)

~70% of remaining 30m are insurable but do not participate in private insurance, do not have a job that provides insurance or are not currently enrolled in Medicaid = 9m uninsurables

US legal Resident Population 290,000,000

Truly Uninsurable 9,000,000

% of US citizens who are unable to obtain health insurance coverage = 3%

If US healthcare is so bad, why have so many foreign dignitaries including the recent Miami surgery for a Canadian Prime Minister chosen to come here for medical care?

 

[sman]

Dave already addressed the faulty numbers you've evidently bought into. I'd like to address the following statement:

...US citizens whose only access to health care is the emergency room,

Every single person in this country, whether a citizen or not, has the right to call any doctors office and schedule an appointment to be seen. Without health insurance, this simply means they have to use another method of payment (i.e. - cash or credit card). The idea that the only place someone can get care is the ER is utterly ridiculous.

Also, the "American Dream" the poster was talking about was being self-employed. The OP "thinks" he can't get insurance (the Illinois Department of Insurance seems to think otherwise as has been posted by myself and Dave). I didn't realize anyone thought the "American Dream" was getting health care.

"I think that because of your pre-existing condition you still have fairly unfettered access to the "American Dream". At the very least, you still have many ways to access the healthcare you need which is something most of this world's citizens do not."

Not only are there 47m+ US citizens whose only access to health care is the emergency room, but, while having the world's most expensive health care, according the WHO's last health-care ranking, the US ranked an unimpressive 37th, right between #36 Costa Rica and #38 Slovenia.
If health care is supposed to be part of the so-called Amer Dream, George Carlin was absolutely right.

 

[thuban]

47m - 17m illegal aliens (not US citizens) = 30m (this as of today according to the US government figures)

~70% of remaining 30m are insurable but do not participate in private insurance, do not have a job that provides insurance or are not currently enrolled in Medicaid = 9m uninsurables

US legal Resident Population 290,000,000

Truly Uninsurable 9,000,000

% of US citizens who are unable to obtain health insurance coverage = 3%

If US healthcare is so bad, why have so many foreign dignitaries including the recent Miami surgery for a Canadian Prime Minister chosen to come here for medical care?

First of all, trying to negate the fact that, by your own number, 30m legal citizens have no health insurance by stating that they have some possible access to it is like trying to erase the existence of the millions of people who live in poverty by saying they could get a job.

Secondly, my post is about health care, not health insurance, and so your post is a complete non-sequitar

As far as your question goes, I don't know the circumstances or the answer. But when are you moving to Costa Rica?

sp

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

while having the world's most expensive health care, according the WHO's last health-care ranking, the US ranked an unimpressive 37th, right between #36 Costa Rica and #38 Slovenia.

So of course the answer is to throw another trillion or so at it. Makes perfect sense.

 

[Dave020]

First of all, trying to negate the fact that, by your own number, 30m legal citizens have no health insurance by stating that they have some possible access to it is like trying to erase the existence of the millions of people who live in poverty by saying they could get a job.

Not some possible access, full access. Not some, most. BTW, people living in poverty have health insurance coverage, often fully retroactive if they did not enroll before services were provided. It's called Medicaid. And it's free.

My point is that there are really about 9m people who are not able to get coverage for healthcare expenses, about 3% of the population. AHIP has stated numerous times that the carriers can handle the 9m so long as the 21m participate.

People do less research on health insurance options than the research they use to buy a car.

Secondly, my post is about health care, not health insurance, and so your post is a complete non-sequitar

No, your post in part was about access to healthcare, which is primarily insurance. And, as Sman points out, your contention is absurd. Doctors will treat people without insurance, so will MinuteClinics, Doctors-On-Duty, Walgreens in-store clinics, the milllions of other clinics, and every one of the hundreds of thousands of Urgent Care Centers in the US. Most offer services at a fraction of ER rates. People CHOOSE to go the ER for non-emergency services, they don't have to.

As far as your question goes, I don't know the circumstances or the answer. But when are you moving to Costa Rica?

sp

Well, I can assure you that my question was rhetorical, and that I have seen this same thing happen more times than I care to count.

Why enroll in HIPAA when I can buy this "other" plan. Other plan ends up being crap, and now health conditions are at issue, it's the damned insurance company's fault.

As to Costa Rica, I live in California which I love and it would be too difficult to fulfill my military service obligations during wartime from that far away.

 

[sman]

Dave I agree with your entire post with one exception, and it is this statement;

"It's called Medicaid. And it's free."

It may be free to the person getting it, but it definitely isn't free. I know you know this, but we have been so conditioned to use certain terms and believe certain things, that we don't think twice about saying them. Kind of like the Dems saying their health reform won't increase the debt.

 

[Dave020]

Correct, it is free to the person receiving the coverage so long they fall into a poverty income range below acceptable FPI as set by the government.