[avant-garde]

What is your stance on the issue of healthcare?

[Phaze5ive]

Healthcare is a liberty, not a right. The government should not be obligated to save you from any "act of God".

[Melitus]

Healthcare is a liberty, not a right. The government should not be obligated to save you from any "act of God".

Say that again when your mother is undergoing surgery.

[Samael]

Say that again when your mother is undergoing surgery.

Even so, you can't expect the government to take care of everything that happens in your life. Over dependence is rising problem with today's bloated government.

[Tuffcore]

As long as spending tax dollars on healthcare means we can keep people alive and keep collecting more taxes from them, then that's an investment our governments should make.

[sasuke-kun]

working in the healthcare industry (retail pharmacy if you consider that healthcare), i dont believe healthcare is a right. every day i see people coming into the pharmacy wanting their prescriptions. but they never know what they are, they never care for their health. they expect the doctors, the pharmacist, the hospital to do everything for them. i asked a patient what medications they were on before and his response was "i dont care. thats my doctor's job." i ended up arguing with him for 10 minutes. i refused to fill any medications for him because he didn't know which one he needed. i also worked in a dialysis unit (patients with end stage kidney failure). its ridiculous we are spending so much money to keep these people alive. first of all, they don't care about taking care of themselves, thats how most of them ended there in the first place. they dont watch what they eat or exercise. they end up getting diabetes. doctors tell them to be more careful, follow your insulin injections. they still dont and they end up in the dialysis unit. even then, we had to do EVERYTHING for them. one lady was in there because she decided to get drunk off some moonshine and it ended up killing her kidneys.

when i think of people like these, i think they should be left out. but on the other end, my mom died of breast cancer. some people cant help being sick, not because of choice but because of other things.

healthcare should be for the sick, not for the lazy.

[Hax]

Say that again when your mother is undergoing surgery.

Wow, I don't think you should ever make a point by referencing the the possibility of misfortune striking someone's mother.

In any case, I think most people who consider it a right are the ones who can not afford it. If any of my family members need sugery, I'm not gonna be like ITS MY RIGHT TO GET HEALTHCARE because its a privilege. It's a privilege I can afford and I'm fine with that.

[kidd]

Should be a right imo. We get citations for speeding, etc for our safety and well being, but we don't get healthcare - just doesn't make sense to me.

[Melitus]

Wow, I don't think you should ever make a point by referencing the the possibility of misfortune striking someone's mother.

In any case, I think most people who consider it a right are the ones who can not afford it. If any of my family members need sugery, I'm not gonna be like ITS MY RIGHT TO GET HEALTHCARE because its a privilege. It's a privilege I can afford and I'm fine with that.

I apologize, however if it weren't for these hospitals most sick people would go untreated and eventually death. I work for a community centre that deals with low income family. These low income family depend on public healthcare, and I do admit they most often exploit the system by going in for a simple flu or cold now and then, but it's usually for their children. I'm not familar with the US healthcare system, but in canada it is a luxary to go in and get treated the same day without any cost. I believe in the US you have to pay for a doctor visit? These public hospitals have a long wait on average of 2-5 hours to see a doctor, so really...most only go if they really needed help.

[Hax]

kidd, I don't see the connection you are trying to make. One is there to ensure your safety and the safety of others you may hurt. Why does that connect to the point that healthcare is a right?

I apologize, however if it weren't for these hospitals most sick people would go untreated and eventually death. I work for a community centre that deals with low income family. These low income family depend on public healthcare, and I do admit they most often exploit the system by going in for a simple flu or cold now and then, but it's usually for their children. I'm not familar with the US healthcare system, but in canada it is a luxary to go in and get treated the same day without any cost. I believe in the US you have to pay for a doctor visit? These public hospitals have a long wait on average of 2-5 hours to see a doctor, so really...most only go if they really needed help.

Yeah, the US health care system is a bit different in that we basically have to pay for nearly everything. If you have money, you basically have health care. If you don't have money, you complain about how messed up the system. While I do agree the system is messed up to a certain degree (what system isnt?), I believe health care is a privilege.

[Shmindy]

This is my opinion on the US health care system not anywhere else in the world.

I believe that basic health care is a right. The medical system is set based on the capital model making it a business. Looking at the economy and how many people are losing their jobs the emergency rooms are going to be over flowing while the general public is going to complain about the drain on resources. What if you could have seen your gp instead, the cost would be significantly less. Instead you are pushed to the emergency room where you can't be denied services. The problem is that in the US healthcare insurance is primarily found through employment. Others have to purchase it themselves, but if you are born with a pre-existing condition you are screwed. They can make the rates really high or else not sell you coverage. So, then you can just pay for all your lab work, meds, doc visits etc. Whatever happened to helping each other out? Why do hospitals, doctors, and drug companies charge so much? Maybe we should get rid of health care all together. Anywhere you go there are people who are lazy and those who aren't...

Look back into history of the current medical system and see what the AMA has done to keep it as a high profit business. Look at the drug companies and how they use supply and demand to control profits. Is the average citizen out there lobbying the government?


Why is it that health care is a privilege yet education should be for all? Why is health care a privilege yet we have fire life safety services? I mean if you should have to be able to pay for your health care why shouldn't fire departments charge to come put the fire out on your burning house? On top of that they should check to make sure you have the funds to pay for services before putting the fire out. The government needs some help fiscally so maybe they should charge for services like police and fire calls...

Health care exists for what reason? It is to ensure that those can have access to service or is it for those that can pay? Better yet is it to help keep people healthy? Maybe we as a society need to reexamine what is important. How many will pay thousands for a flat screen TV but will balk at paying out of pocket for a doctor’s visit? Take it another step why doesn't the government stop subsidizing oil companies so that Americans can pay more like $10/gallon for gas? Is that a right or a privilege? If it's a right to be able to get cheaper gas I want to stop subsidizing the drunks on the road.

To each their own. I am lucky that I have health insurance if I need it...lucky.

[Hax]

dang how do i delete a post lol

[Lily Linh]

Health-care is not a right. Our rights only include those of necessity- our right to breathe, to live, to have free will. If anything, having health-care is more of a luxury. Since you only asked this issue on a broad level- our health-care system is more so a privilege than a right. What about all the people around the world who know nothing of a health-care system in place? Not a single person (government etc.) needs to provide them anything, it's not their duty to do so.

We just happen to live in a society that chooses to.

[Phaze5ive]

Say that again when your mother is undergoing surgery.

My mother works and has insurance. That being said, it is still not the government's responsibility. And john tesh you too.

As long as spending tax dollars on healthcare means we can keep people alive and keep collecting more taxes from them, then that's an investment our governments should make.

That makes very little sense. Thanks to the Democrats, the funding for this healthcare overhaul is going to come mainly from the wealthy. So essentially you are spending money to keep people alive who aren't contributing that much taxes back into the system. So collecting more taxes from them is out of the question unless you want to tax the rich and poor equally. But then poor people would complain, because evidently, it's society's fault that they are not as successful as others.

[avant-garde]

^ I agree with everything in your comment. Unfortunately, it looks like an inevitable socialist wave will engulf the American future. Just look at the values most kids have today.. and you will see why hard work and personal responsibility is already becoming a thing of the past.

[Pogichinoy]

In Australia, basic health care is understood as a right.

[terrorist]

well from a government standpoint it's better to provide health care. more sick people = bad economy.

[D_K]

As long as spending tax dollars on healthcare means we can keep people alive and keep collecting more taxes from them, then that's an investment our governments should make.

Except that universal health care is not a pareto efficient outcome. Take a look at the emergency wards of any hospital or observe the comings and goings of your physician's office: a small minority of the population, be it the elderly, the drug addict, or the obese, constitute a disproportionate amount of the visitations and hence the costs to the society. Without getting into the morality or the ethical implications of what basic healthcare means, any social service is a public good and is ripe for abuse. Tragedy of the commons.

[machiavelli_paganini]

government is meant to serve the people, not rule and control them (though this is rarely what governments do). basic health care should be available to all, not just those fortunate enough to have money.

as always, the ones who say health care shouldn't be available to all are usually the ones with health care. being poor and having to pay for family members hospital bills is a damn struggle and those with silver spoons in their mouths will never understand the pain. the naive ones among you shrug this off and say "well, you can work and get insurance!" silly rabbit, how we wish it were this simple. to get health care is john teshing hard because these companies will try to john tesh you over and find ways to label you as unqualified (pre-existing health problems, salary/job/credit, etc).

[HaplessChild]

You have a right to seek health care and a right to recieve it but it is not a RIGHT that someone else should pay for it. I agree 100% with Phaze5ive.