Why would ANYONE think we should have government sponsored health care (part 2)?

Question

Please read the WHLE question. Apparently people don't like to do that

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AkgrJXImVRvKiAAAo6Ylxd3sy6IX?qid=20070131074215AAbITNx

OK, these people obviously have no idea what I am saying. Instead of having the government sponsor our health care, why don't we lower taxes, so people can buy their own health care?

I AGREE that everyone in the country should have health care, it is a crime that they do not. However, I think the government would probably screw it up, like they screw most things up.

How about we give everyone in America a $2500 tax credit for health insurance. If you are unemployed, we will give you $2500
extra in unemployment benefits, to ensure that you can get health care.

WHY WOULDN'T THIS WORK???

Answer 1

Usually the people that push for "universal health care" have so much money and power that don't even need a health care insurance; they believe that we, the little guys, can't make decisions for ourselves so they come with these crazy and expensive ideas. This is what I call liberal guilt.

Answer 2

You still have the insurance corporations pocketing 1/2 the cost of health care.

Shut down the Hank Goldberg Billionaires and America could have the Worlds best Health care system.

No one wants higher taxes. But compare the current Health Care cost to Americans. To that of Denmark or Sweden. We are actually paying more that they are.

I'm not suggesting we become a Socialist Nation like Germany. Simply that Health-Care and Highway-Repair are facts of life that the average man on the street can not provide for himself.

No one is standing in the pulpit claiming the Government has over reached it's authority by providing the interstate highway system.

Go big Red Go

Answer 3

Honestly, if the government is giving everyone tax credits for health insurance, what's the difference between that and sponsoring it? Then at least people could be covered when they need more than this 2500 credit, while some people wouldn't need that much at all. Like you say the goverment would screw it up, I think it would be much easier to institute a national healthscare system then to deal with 300 million individual tax credits.

Answer 4

people spend money on what they think they need the most at the time (this is just off the top of my head by the way.. just a quickly thought out reason) so if you give them a $2500 dollar credit it will go to food or housing or something more basic for survival than health care (health care saves you 20 years from now.. food saves you this week) ... so if you solve that by saying that they HAVE to spend it on health insurance.. then you still have government sponsored health care.. I mean really.. whats the difference between the government paying the bill and the government cutting the check that pays the bill? less postage.

Answer 5

Well because MOST surgical procedures run in excess of 50,000 dollars. A single family practitioners office visit alone costs around $200 --JUST TO DIAGNOSE A PROBLEM, treatment if there IS something wrong would run in excess of $1000's so unfortunately your meager $2500 would not cut it. I propose that a universal healthcare system be modeled after the military healthcare system, many of the the M.D.'s, P.A.'s, nurses, etc. are civilians contracted by the gov't. as it is. Yes taxes would have to go up--but only as much as a low cost insurance premium you would pay anyways--companies would just have to find other benefits to entice you to work for them. I f we can spend in excess of $400 billion dollars on a country half way across the world why not a small fraction of that on our own?

Answer 6

There will be someone who won't buy insurance or save the money for health needs, and they'll end up in the emergency room for a cold. The hospital will then charge the government maximum dollars for minimal service and it all goes back on the tax payer. It's a vicious cycle. I would rather pay the taxes and insure there will be a hospital and doctors available when anyone needs them. Incidentally, I am insured.

Answer 7

I'm fine with this, but the notion that private is always more efficient and cheaper than public is simply incorrect. Medicare is the single most efficient insurance program out there. It spends about 90% less on overhead than do private insurers, and this efficiency is able to passed on to the consumer.

Privatization schemes in other areas have also either failed to produce any consumer benefits, or have actually made the problem much worse. For instance, the IRS is obligated to contract out debt collection, but it pays more for this than it would for in-house collection, and the collection percentages have actually gone down as well. A similar problem happened with the privatization of govt. benefits in Texas. And then there's the deregulation of energy in California that resulted in Enron.

I'm not suggesting everything be nationalized (I like private industry!), but I think it's simplistic to suggest that we move from those nationalized systems that work pretty well to the bizarre hodgepodge of private insurers that is really quite a nightmare right now.

Answer 8

Oh the folk have spoken and could proceed until eventually this healthcare crap is ineffective and long previous. Politicians are sneaky and could enable issues die down until eventually now awakening the huge lower back. As employers of the government, (we the folk) we ought to be greater vigilant than ever. Watch their each and every circulate only like a number of boss might do. Our government has develop into over ridden with greed, corruption, scandal, deceit, etc.. it is all from a loss of discipline from the folk. If we do in comparison to a minimum of something, we ought to enable them to be attentive to and in a huge way. don't be petrified of those people WE elected and employed, we even have the potential to question and fireplace people who won't be able to look to do their activity wisely and for the splendid motives. God Bless usa.

Answer 9

The majority of people in America without health care do not make enough money for a tax break to help them. This idea seems good in theory, but would only help about 10,000,000 of the 47,000,000 uninsured Americans.

Answer 10

How do you know that people would still be able to afford the health care with the $2500 tax credit? After all, they might need to use it for something else, like food or shelter.

Answer 11

What would children who don't work and don't have parents do?


ps. Your plan could work if this country had a flat tax rate. Like 10% no matter how little or how much you make with no exceptions or breaks....