Why do dumb!! Americans Think Health Care for Everyone is a bad idea?

Question

As I read the illogical and narrowminded reasons why Americans do not want Health Care for all its citizens, I cant help but believe that Americans just do not want to think someone else has got it right. If paying 500 dollars for a 30 min visit to a doctor to tell you that you are sick and then providing a person with a 50 dollar perscription for some drugs that potentiallly can make a person sicker than they already are because of the side effects.. Then Stupid is As Stupid Does" Run! Forest Run! Universal health care is a good Idea!

Answer 1

Because dumb, narrow minded Europeans benefiting from US medical research think it is a good idea.

Answer 2

Good question. They are so concerned about national health care. Yet retired, disabled and poor get it. So evidently, the middle class dont want it for themselves. The wealthy all have cash or private insurance. And the middle class seems to prefer paying for higher hospital costs rather than a national plan. After all, every time a person without insurance cannot pay, the hospital passes the expense to others. And the people without insurance with minor problems avoid problems until it gets serious expensive and likely to require hospitalization. End line is that everyone is probably paying more now in taxes for medical care than what would exist with a national health care program. I even hear some against NHC because of long appointment waits. As though no private practioners would exist.

As is, a person without insurance and unable to pay a private doctor, simply presents to a hospital where it is 3 or 4 times the cost and they can't be turned away. Then when another person has an urgent condition, there is a big waiting line andtheir care delayed. People without insurance or money also burden the emergency rooms of hospitals with common colds. Something that gets spread to others.

Answer 3

There may be some illogical or narrowminded reasons behind it, but I have yet to hear many.

To start, Free Healthcare will be anything but free. This is the government we're talking about. We have a lot of people that would use this healthcare, and a lot of doctors will be needed for it to flourish. Not to mention the cost of machines, services, medicine.. It has to be paid for, these primary elements of healthcare aren't paid for with good intentions, rainbows, and kittens, it boils down to money.

So, now that we've established that money is a currency, where do we get the money to pay for a healthcare that is going to be free to the general population and illegal immigrants?

Taxes. And we have a lot of people in america. That's going to be incrediblly expensive, and it comes out of your pocket just as much as it comes out of mine. Even if you do not visit the doctor that year, you can bet that you'll still have to pay into this system once April rears it's ugly head and the IRS knocks at your door.

Not to mention, have you seen the quality of service when government takes over? Look at any government service you've ever had to use, and that's how you're health care will be handled. Like a DMV.

Answer 4

The question is filled with misinformation.

First, America already has universal health care. Anyone who needs immediate help (including people with no money or illegal immigrants) can go to a hospital and they will get health care. There are also numerous health fairs and opporutnities in larger cities to get free preventative health care. What America does not have is universal health care insurance coverage.

Second, I have never been billed $500 for a doctor's visit. Not even an hour long physical, or a visit with a well known cancer specialist. If you are paying that much, it is because you are having expensive procedures done.

Third, there are a wide variety of opinions concerning what the best way to run the health care system is. I have never met an american who wanted to deny health care to anyone. I have met americans who want (1) the freedom our current system allows (2) personal responsibility to be the central determinant of one's health care options or (3) want to avoid the higher taxes that would inevitably accompany the 'universal health care' model.

For my part, I believe that the 'universal health care' model would LOWER the quality of health care for about two thirds of americans, while raising it for the least responsible third of americans. Also, you should note that being poor is not the same as being irresponsible. I was poor on an income of about $12,000 a year, but I received cancer treatment at Johns Hopkins, one of the best hospitals in the world. Our current system isn't perfect, but it sure beats putting the people who run the DMV and the Post Office (notoriously inefficient government run agencies) in charge of our health care.

Most Americans are appropriately cynical about politicians and people who promise us 'something for nothing' and believe that taking responsibility for your own life is the best strategy for flourishing.

Answer 5

Well there are plenty of good reasons to not support univeral heath care. I use to be one for it until I spoke with someone against it and they pointed out how gov't control could lower the quality of care provided. and I thought about how the VA hospitals were having trouble with vetreans and miltiary people alone. At least private care works even though it's over priced and not the most fair, but until someone gets a plan to set up a universal heath care that is properly funded and capible of handling more then what the privite sector already is then we'll have to stick with If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Also: Those of you who generalize us Americans as dumb and arrogent. F U C K OFF!!!

Answer 6

"clinton knows this,yet thinks most american are dumb,when most are,theirs a lot that is not.." try to use correct grammar when applying you're one of the inteligent americans, please. and I believe free health care would be a not only smart, but necessary. Our health care system is entirely out of control, and we NEED to reel it back in.. true, this WILL be a hit to doctors and to the rich who don't need to worry about the price of their health care, but isn't it better for the few elite to become more equal with the rest of us, if it means the same for the poor? There are so many impoverished families who don't have health care at all in our country, however, we don't see them.. because we choose not to. The truth is, the rich control the media, which is what we hear about, and they want health care to stay the same so that they can continue to get richer. So we hear arguments about surgeries taking this long, because the rich want to fearmonger and convince those of us in the middle that we won't be able to recieve crucial surgeries on time. But honestly, you stated that, "doctor appointments will be even longer than they already are" in reality, this is SO minor a cost to helping those who are less fortunate than ourselves, how can it even be relevant? Clinton is brilliant. And hopes voters to be the same... if She thought Americans were dumb, and wanted to win this election, she would play the George Bush role.

Answer 7

We have universal health care in Canada, but there was a lot of oppostion to the idea before it came in. The opposition arose from the propaganda of the right-of-centre government of the day, and the self-interest and fear mongering of the doctors themselves.

Did you know, there was even a protest in Regina, where doctors dressed in Arab robes and Chinese coolie hats, to scare people into thinking that all the Canadian doctors would leave and the government would bring in lesser-qualified third world doctors.

If you think something is a good idea, and you want to convince people that your opinion is correct, it is unwise to call them "dumb" or "stupid". Most Americans that I know are neither.

Answer 8

"Stupid is as stupid does" indeed. Interesting that you'd choose that quote to slam the US. You're obviously equating the United States with Forest, and suggesting that both are stupid.

But Forest had an indomitable will, and spent his life helping others. He had a sense of duty, of responsibility to something outside of his own needs. He was sharing, caring, and successful. No wonder you hate him (and us): we're a reminder of your inadequacies.

Why do so many Canadians cross the border to get health care? Why do the wealthy from all over the world come to US clinics and hospitals? Because the "universal health care" offered in other countries has destroyed the quality of care.

All government is dangerous. Any program they run is heavy on administration, light on delivery. If they force universal health care, they will ruin health care for all but the extremely wealthy.

NO ONE IS EVER TURNED AWAY FROM AN EMERGENCY ROOM. They will treat and stabilize people there, insured or not, citizen or not. Some people use this instead of seeing (and paying) a doctor. So many people in large cities have done this that many hospitals have gone out of business.

We don't need government-sponsored universal health care because we take care of each other. The American people are extremely generous, and support charities voluntarily at a higher rate than any other country. Looking at the % of charitable contributions against Gross Domestic Product is interesting.

USA=1.67
UK=0.73
Canada =0.72
Australia =0.69
South Africa =0.64
Rep of Ireland =0.47
Netherlands =0.45
Singapore =0.29
New Zealand =0.29
Turkey =0.23
Germany =0.22
France =0.14 (SEE LINK #1)

So we contribute to our own people at twice the rate of the next highest country, more than 10 times as much as France. This is the American people caring for Americans, and such aid reaches its goal nearly without diversion, and much better than Government aid ever does. Think about the billions siphoned off of Government aid in third world countries. Kofi Anan is one wealthy bastard after his family was overseeing Oil for Food in Iraq.

"But that's just you taking care of your own" you're probably whining. So let’s look at who contributes to less fortunate countries....

Here is a list of US dollar amounts given out as foreign aid. The numbers are in millions.
USA 22,739
UK 12,607
Japan 11,608
France 10,448
Germany 10,351
Netherlands 5,452
Sweden 3,967
Spain 3,801
Canada 3,713
Italy 3,672
Norway 2,946
Denmark 2,234
Australia 2,128
Belgium 1,968
Switzerland 1,647
Austria 1,513
Ireland 997
Finland 826
Portugal 391
Greece 384
Luxembourg 291
New Zealand 257
Source: OECD Development Statistics Online last accessed Saturday, April 07, 2007 (link 2)

Again, The USA gives nearly twice as much out as any other country.

And let’s look at where this money goes... It isn't to our cronies and pals.

These are the countries receiving the most aid from the top donor nations. Numbers are millions of US dollars:
Iraq=12924
Nigeria=3180
China=2862
Afghanistan=1946
Indonesia=1867
India=1785
Ghana=1394
Egypt=1319
Viet Nam=1312
Sudan=1162 (link #3)

And these are the countries where American dollars go. Numbers are in millions of US dollars:
Iraq=6926
Afghanistan=1060
Egypt=750
Sudan=575
Ethiopia=552
Jordan=386
Colombia=366
Palestine=227
Uganda =225
Pakistan=224
(Also link #3)


Not a list of our chums, is it? Why we give money to some of these folks is beyond me.

No, we're not perfect, but we do a damn sight more to help the unfortunate than any other country. Your gardens have largely gone to seed, and without our support, most of the world would starve to death.

So while you take cheap, unfounded, and unsubstantiated shots at us, we'll continue to try to help countries destroyed by European colonialism (which is really what the major aid recipients have in common; they all "benefited" from European rule until fairly recently.)

We can take care of the health needs of our people better without government sponsored universal health care than with it. That's the bottom line.

Answer 9

You should have worded your question a bit less abrasive.

Most intelligent Americans will agree with you that this country needs socialised medicine. But your tone needs to ease up some if you want answers untainted by irritation.

Happily, I am a dual citizen with Canada and realise that health care in the United States is long overdue for a revamp.

Answer 10

Why so dumb? Why do Europeans think that double digit unemployment is a good idea. Why do they allow the Nanny state to quash their freedoms, slow their economy and reduce the quality of their health care. I guess they get enough of a boost from the research dollars of the United State capitalist system that they can get by with a socialist system but it is not for me.

Answer 11

I didn't realize Americans felt this way. I'm an American and I have no insurance for me or me family because we can't afford it. I haven't seen a doctor in over ten years. I would love to have a health care plan for my family. It's the doctors who don't won't to fool with these plans that are hurting Americans.