Would you be willing to pay higher Federal taxes for free heath-care for everyone?

Question

If yes, what percentage would be fair.
If no, give a brief reason why.
Before you answer, don't factor in the people that now recieve free health care, people who do not work for whatever reason. Ignore them, I talking about the millions of people who work for small businesses who don't provide a Insurance Plan.
Local state and the federal governments provide affordable if not free heath plans to thier employees now. Why not incorpopate everyone into this plan. If a federal employee goes to work every day and pays taxes, why not make the same plan system available to the average tax payer?
If the the only hold up is that the small business cannot afford thier part, why not give them a break which factors in how many employees they have? Smaller companies pay less for they are less costly to the government.
Look at how much money is spent on discount insurance, payed in full out of pocket, and lost revinue because the patient could not pay. Insurance companies are not on your side

Answer 1

...why not? I'm already working my a*ss off to pay taxes for other people to have free health insurance...and they don't even work. Sorry Brian, but that population can't be ignored and has to be factored in. Plus, I have to pay an exorbitant amount of money each month for health insurance for myself. The increase in my taxes would still be less than what my health insurance costs me now.

But I'll bet when Bill and Hillary Clinton wanted to initiate National Health Insurance for everyone, ya'll jumped up and down and thought it was a terrible idea. Do you even have health insurance now. How high are your insurance premiums now?

Answer 2

My answer is that everyone should be entitled and given access to free health care. The people who can afford private health care would usually opt to pay for it anyway. There is no way to be able to reasonably put percentage of what I would pay for the health care because there are too many factors, since you seem to like that term, to consider.

I believe that a sales tax should be imposed on every product sold, excepting only food, medical supplies, and energy for homes to help fund such a program. I also believe that income taxes for incomes below a figure half-again-as-large as the median income should be abolished and asset taxes instituted on al asset holders The greatest concentration of money in this country, and all others, is locked up in assets. Assets are those possessions which have the probability for earning money for the person/s who invested in them. Ninety percent of all of the assets in this country are held by less than 2 percent of all of the purchasing units here. A purchasing unit is a group of people which buys collectively, such as a family. The other 10 percent of the assets are divided up among the remaining 98 percent of the purchasing units. This is like dividing a pie into one hundred pieces and distributing it among one hundred people. The first 2 people get 90 pieces of pie and the remaining 98 people get the10 remaining pieces to share. Taxing the assets annually would cause their redistribution throughout the society and raise more money than taxing income since there are so many shelters the wealthy can use to protect their millions and billions of dollars from taxation. It would also raise more money for the public good than does taxing income.

So, yes, I'm for free health care, but I am against raisiig income taxes in anyway except above the income level I've stated. And I've also delineated a rough idea of how to pay for it.

Good question, and one that deserves much more debate in this country, thinking, of course, that you are an American and talking about the United States.

Answer 3

We would not have to pay more if the government had it priorities straight.

Do you think Exxon needs $100 million a year government handouts to find oil? I don't. They made $10 billion in profits last year.

Do we need to keep spending $10 billion a year to build a missile shield system we havn't been able to make work since Reagan was president?

Do we need pass laws that prevent insurance companies from negotiating drug prices with drug companies and pay drug companies $15 billion a year so 5 million seniors can pay retail?

Do we need to keep spending $20 billion a year on a BS war on drugs we've been loosing in Columbia and Bolivia since Nioxn started it.

Do we need to give power companies $3 billion a year to build power lines they don't build ((REA).

Do you think we should be wasting $260 billion a year for a war in Iraq no one even really knows why we are fighting. Save the tired diatribe OK?

If our congressmen didn't "earmark" billions a year for museums, stadiums and bridges to no where, etc......

I could go on and on and on.

If we didn't waste billions each year would have than enough money for schools, healthcare, roads, mass transit and more that we do need.

It's simple, if France can afford it why can't we? Our taxes are higher than theirs now.

Answer 4

Yes. Much less would be spent on private insurance. USA is the only industrialized nation without universal health care. USA spends twice as much per capita than any nation. The excess money goes to greedy insurance companies, drug companies, and hospitals. We are being gouged. Plus about a thousand poor people die each week, who could have been saved. 49 million people have no health care here. To sum up, univeral health care saves lives and money.

Answer 5

Just as high as taxes are in the state of New Jersey. We should be walking on golden roads. Every aspect of the government is cutting service, so they continue dipping in the till.
I am a firm believer in taking care of your citizens first. The hard workers who are still making the pompous (so and so) remain financially wealthy, do need to extend health benefits.
Have you noticed the retirees, who expect to enjoy there golden years in peace. Being pushed from there homes via eminent domain or they are being pushed into a disastrous world of nursing home (including assisted living),etc
I do concur, if you do not earn your keep. You do not deserve to reap the benefits.etc....

Answer 6

No. Not when there is no audit or accountability for the civil servants that manage and operate the programs administration. For example, the ridiculous bonuses the higher-ups at Walter Reed received that was brought out in the press last week. As for good health care in Canada, my friends that are canadian come here for medical care because they'd die waiting to see a doctor. And it is appropriate to provide Medicare/Medicaid only to those that are the poorest or can demonstrate actual need for assistance. All of the able bodied can make their contribution and not attempt to freeload.

Answer 7

A serious thoughtful question deserves a proper answer. Yes, I would be willing to pay another twenty-five percent of my income for universal free health care. But only for American citizens. And we need to stop all SSI payments to immigrants who never paid a dime into social security. I am liberal to an extent, but my goodness, we are becoming the biggest target of international panhandlers in history. We have become down right sappy!

Answer 8

Yes. Federal Taxes and or a STRAIGHT across the board SALES TAX. That way EVERYONE is paying the SAME AMOUNT and contributing!

Answer 9

Yes BUT I want to see insurance and the medical field examined first. Like pharmacy companies that charge insane prices...

Answer 10

In my case yes. My medical is hugely expensive. I would really save money. Besides, the government takes most of my check in taxes anyway!