If America is so great then why do we not have free health care for all its citizen?

Question

Are we not the only country that is in the top "powerhouse country" that does not give this service{health care} to its citizens?

You are now paying for everyone's health care but the American Citizen?

Answer 1

In british Columbia we pay $ 96.00 a month for 2 people for medicare hospital is free next year when my wife retires free for both,I have had an angioplasty,, angiogram no charge, last year fell to pavement 8 hours in hospital oxygen lab work a meal free ride home ina taxi no charge.

Answer 2

I read somewhere recently that with all the money that has been spent on the war in Iraq, every young person now, and for the rest of the century could have had a free college education. There is a great possibility that we could all have had free health care too. You must know how the pharmaceutical companies are ripping off the public by producing medication that costs pennies and selling for 100x as much. From what I understand the U.S. is the only industrialized country in the world that does not offer free health care for its citizens. It IS working. Something is wrong HERE. Hmmmmm, I wonder what it could be?

Answer 3

Luci D - What you said is SO wrong! You said "People who work and/or have incomes can get insurance for health care." There are millions of working people in this country who work hard every day, some at two or more jobs, and still cannot afford health insurance or any kind of health care for their families because of skyrocketing medical expenses. And the cost of prescription medicine is outrageous! That may be fine from your vantage point, but in the real world there are a lot of people that go without health care and medicine because they just can't afford it. The only way people can get any kind of assistance from the government (medicaid) is to not have a job at all, and that is just not an option. Chris L stated that "I think the economy of this country is doing great right now." Wrong again. Maybe certain areas are doing great, but the facts are there are many, many "working poor" in this country, or many who have lost their jobs and are struggling to survive. Our government has a lot of people brainwashed into thinking "everything is rosey" when it is NOT! It irritates me to no end to have people lump everyone who can't afford health care into the lazy category. That is so far from the truth. Wake up and come down off your high horses, people! Great question, by the way, Jennyann.

Answer 4

No health care is free. Those countries that have government funded health care services have a lot of problems. Can you wait almost three weeks to see a doctor when you're sick and in pain? Who do you think picks up the tab for this service??? Do you want the government dictating what doctor you see and how often and for what problems? America needs to think a long time before they turn health care over to the government.

Answer 5

America is great because of its freedoms and rights, not because it is a state gives its citizens free stuff. Where would the govenment get the money to buy health care and give it away to everyone?

Other "powerhouse" countries such as Germany give free health care and higher education to its citizens, but the citizens have to be Germans from generations before. They do not recognize others as German citizens, while America recognizes everyone as citizens.

In America, if you need health care, you can usually find a doctor or hospital which will give you emergency care even if you cannot pay for it.

In America, Senior citizens have Medicare, which pays for hospital and medicine, and people who live in poverty can get welfare assistance. People who work and/ or have incomes, can get insurance for health care.

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Answer 6

Private Health Insurance,it is not not Government run. Medical help needs to be paid for, you know the Dr's and RN' as well as other help in the Hospital, and of course the technicians, the Lab workers etc. and of course the Machines like XRay MIR and many others all need to be paid for. There are also 40 mil in the USA that have no insurance and they are still served and taken care of through the ER. I think that the other countries Like UK and Canada have Government coverage for its Citizens. I am not certain where European countries stand with health insurance .Mostly provided by their government I suppose.

Answer 7

The physicians do not want to have the government tell them how to practice medicine. The insurance companies are already doing that.

I am for free health care but it may cause more problems. I noted on that Show with Drew Carey as host, that over 60% of Americans would be willing to pay higher taxes to have free health care. Interesting.

If we are willing to turn our health care over to the government, we will lose out in better health care. The VA hospitals in the USA are barely able to make ends meet and some of our veterans receive poor health care because the government controls it. Just think about it.

Answer 8

Because there is no such thing as free health care. Do you honestly think doctors and nurses and medics and techs and all the pharmaceutical companies provide goods and services at no charge in these countries that have government-run health care programs? Of course they don't. SOMEONE has to pay for it.

That begs the obvious question: Who should pay? There's a school of thought that believes health care should be handled by our Federal Government and the money should come from our taxes. PROBLEM: Not everyone in this country is a taxpayer, but a universal health care plan would cover everyone. That means that the hard-working American taxpayer would also be paying for the care of illegal aliens and that segment of our population that contributes nothing to our society while constantly holding their hands out (READ: People on welfare who have no intention of ever getting off welfare). Why should citizens pay for their own care AND the care of people who are too lazy to provide for themselves or are in this country illegally?

Here's another problem: If the Federal Government takes over health care, we're stuck with whatever plan they come up with. History has shown that the only thing that our politicians are good at is wasting taxpayer dollars at the speed of light while miring every government aid program in bureaucratic red tape. Remember the big to-do they had about the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed Medical Center? Do you realize that's a government-run health care program? That very thought should scare you because it's a living model of what universal health care would look like in this country. It would be a much lower standard of care for the private citizen that would cost two to three times as much as it does now.

The root of the problem is the fact that so many people in this country believe being an American entitles you to whatever you want. Not true. Being an American only entitles you to freedom and opportunity; nothing more. It doesn't entitle you to an education, or a job, or a home, or free health care, or money for retirement, or a big screen TV -- get the picture? Those are things you have to go out and EARN. So ask yourself: How do you want your government to treat you? If you want to be treated like an adult, with minimum interference in your personal affairs, then you must behave like an adult and take care of yourself instead of looking to the government to take care of you. If you want the government to take care of you, then be prepared for the government to treat you like a child and tell YOU what you can and cannot do. As government power and control goes up, civil liberties go away. You want to keep your freedom? Then STOP expecting the government to fix everything -- be a grown-up and handle it yourself.

Answer 9

Precisely my own question. If we're so damned wonderful a country why aren't we respecting and taking care of our citizens. Our elderly and poor are treated abominably in comparison to other countries.
Incredulously, there are still people who scream like cut cats if you mention a national health system.
Maybe if we can get Hillary Clinton into the white house, we can change this talk into a reality. I, for one, hope so.

Answer 10

I am opposed to free health care because I would not be able to afford the tax increase of about $7,500 a year per person in my home.
And free health care means another govenment agency, overstaffed and regulating whether or not you should be treated for a broken ankle simply because you are a smoker.
And what would happen to an elderly 85 year old woman who needs cancer treatment. No you can't be treated because the money is more useful for the young. And how about the prisoner on death row who wants a sex change operation.

Answer 11

Free health care means doctors shortages, that means doctors from other countries that don't know anything, just like the 5 doctors from Iraq that went to England to do terrorists acts. Doctors are not going to work for free after spending 8 to 10 years in school. The government can't even treat the veterans right they get poor health care, what do you think will happen to you. but it won't matter to the politicians because they will still have their good private doctors for their families and them selves. Even the terrorists said the doctors that cure you will kill you, because it will be the foreign doctors they will be importing. Canada and England are loaded with them.