Liberals: How do you expect the government to pay for universal healthcare?

Question

It would be nice to have, but its just not a financial reality. take a look:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget,_2007

Medicare and Medicaid total almost 700 BILLION dollars worth of the federal budget. And that's just the federal budget, states pay for a large portion of medicaid so i bet its pushing $1 trillion dollars in goverment healthcare spending currently. And the programs only insure about 20% of our population. So we take 1 trillion X 4 to get the other 4/5ths of our population covered so youre looking at an increase of 3.5-4 trillion dollars (granted medicare is old and disabled people who use more healthcare, so its probably more like a 2-3 trillion increase) Anyway, were running a deficit right now of 500 billion per year. Where is the money going to come from to finance this?

and please note from that article as well, the goverment budgeted less than 600 billion for defense despite Iraq

congress's salary isnt in the trillions, cutting their pay might save a few million

and why dont the rich deserve their money? because youre jealous of people that work hard and make something for themselves?

healthcare is crap in a lot of those countries is also much lower quality than it is here. you have to wait years to get non-life saving surgeries, if they will pay for them at all

Answer 1

the rich don't deserve all the money. increase taxes from them.

i'm not jealous. giving people more money that others is inequality. why do they deserve more money than others? ideally, everyone should be paid equally after deducting money for health care, education etc.

bdog1321, what makes you think the poor don't work?? they might have not have had the oppertunity to improve themselves due to unfortunate circumstances. they should be denied healthcare???? contrary to what you think, poor are not worse off than anyone else. rich capitalist scum don't deserve all their money anyways.

john, the rich don't always work harder than others. there are people making millions for doing basically nothing. movie stars included.

btw, canada has universal healthcare and it works fine there. i lived there and it is a whole lot better than the healthcare in america. do you think the poor don't deserve access to healthcare? do you think the poor are worse off then the rich? not everyone that is poor is lazy.

Answer 2

The Government of the United States will not pay for universal healthcare unless the American people are willing to fork over more taxes. I mean here in Canada universal healthcare is free, but then, the sales tax in Ontario and Quebec its 14%, in Alberta about 8%, and so on. Another major tax is the income tax which is anywhere from 30-39%. Healthcare should not be a Federal governmental responsibility, but the responsibility of the State Government like it is here in Canada. Also the government should take away some patents from pharmeceutical companies so the cost of drugs aren't that high. The Defence budget should not decrease anyhow because the United States has a lot of enemies, and tighter budgets would only hurt our military might. The rich should not be taxed the most by percent, granted they should be taxed the lowest percent possible, since the overall amount would probably be more then an average families income tax amount. The first answerers answer is just crazy, that will never ever work it. Not even the most hardline communist could stick to that idea. That idea will only come into fruitition of the whole world was a rural village, and every country had a different job to provide for the community.

Answer 3

Well I am not a liberal but I do believe some intelligent changes sould be made to improve the health insurance situation we are in. It's not a healthcare problem, it is a health insurance problem and peoples inability to pay for the health care they need.

It is also a multi-faceted problem and like all problems that require multiple approaches and solutions, by the time intelligent folks get done explaining to the average person what they would propose, the people are already bored to death of hearing about it. This is unfortuante because it is a problem that can be addressed with some appraoches that would make sense, all of which I cannot address without getting long-winded myself.

So I will say this: your question makes an assumption that the cost of healthcare services is static and therefore requires us to pay large sums of government money to pay for it. This assumptiopn may be a better point to attack than just throwing the people's money at the problem as is related by your question.

Currently, you cannot buy health care services the same way you buy major car reapirs or home repairs. This is a major problem. With repairing a car or home you can shop. You can compare prices. You can probably find recommendations for particular companies based on quality, customer service, price, etc. Health care currently is in bed with insurance companies, and behind closed doors which do not let the consumer in. The "free" marketplace only works when all aspects of it are functioning. Currently, health care doesn't work this way. You cannot shop to find out who has the best rate on open heart surgery, or who has the best quality of work when performing skin cancer surgery.

So what we need is for the government to require disclosures of prices and a healthcare freedom of information act. When people are given actual ability to pick and choose based on price and quality, the insurance companies and doctors will no longer have the secretive operation and control of price they currently enjoy. Are we really satisifed to have our health care industry operate like we live in China?? Because we do not have a FREE market in healthcare, we most likely have highly inflated prices benefiting the corporations and practitioners I have mentioned. Until we address that, there is no point worrying about how we pay for it.

Answer 4

First off, I am a Conservative.

We cannot expect the US Government to pay for Healthcare.
If they DO, then it trickls down to US paying for it!!

And just Think of how many Con-Artists would be ripping-off the System!! And how many Illegals would use our Money?!?

"Oh, I'm Sick. I need to go see the Doctor...." and
"I speaka no Englias..."

Then, people that DON'T need to go to the Doctor WOULD, and at EVERYONE's cost!!!! (Except Illegals)

In Canada, they are paying more than Twice what we pay in Taxes!! If we had to do the same thing, then that would Really Suck!!

And how would that really be worth it?!? people that have to spend money on things as it is would be the people that get Ripped-Off from a Universal Healthcare System!!

So, the Middle-Class would get Ripped-off, and the US would go into a brief Depression.... >:(

So, NO! We can't afford it!! We are already paying for the War!!

Answer 5

The government budget is a lot different than is actually spent. What comes out of our pocket does not include the amount borrowed in order to fund the war.

As far as paying for it, how about eliminating all pork from proposed bills. Add in a minimal amount of payment for those that are able, and it should all pan out.

Or, why not do something about reducing the amount of law suits? Wouldn't that lower medical costs because of less insurance to be paid?

Answer 6

Here is the math problem for the day to answer your question about health care.
They are going to tax it.
So everyone take a look at you pay stub and see what they take out for health care.
Now most companies pick about 75% of the tab.
So take deduction and multpy it by 3.
Now consider how well the government handles our money.
A dollar you take for taxes for welfare about 10 cents makes it to the welfare mom.
Now you take that last sum and you times that by 10 for the waste our government.
Now that you have hit the down thumbs button consider this.
In Canada they come here for medical treatment.
Kids in England have to raise money so their parents can get the cancer meds.

So you liberals really going to trust the government to handle your health care?

I have one word for you to consider how great our government is in helping people.
Katherina.

Think about it.

Answer 7

It is called making a budget. No matter what program gets introduced and instituted, it cannot simply have an open checkbook. The funds must be made readily available and the guidelines for the program must never over exceed them.

For example, look at Bush's war. It was supposed to be budgeted with clear objectives, but instead it became overblown with expenses. The Bush Administration had not planned for the over expenses, but were afraid to back out, so they have continually granted over sized appropriations which have created more debt.

Quite simply, the health care program can be accomplished, but will not be a utopian solution like many Americans think. Taxes will have to be raised, or at least tax breaks will have to be repealed, and citizens will still have to be limited as to what type of treatment they can receive.

Answer 8

If we can afford TRILLIONS of dollars for an obscene, illegal, unconstitutional, immoral 'war' just because the Bush family had a personal vendetta against Saddam Hussein, Cheney coveted all of Iraq's oil, and the giant U.S. military-industrial complex needed to boost its profits - we can certainly afford a few hundred billion for universal health care.
However, government should only provide healthcare for those households who truly can't afford it. Any household with earnings above the median income should be expected to buy their own health care - otherwise, we run the risk of creating another 'entitlement' boondoggle like Social Security, where everyone believes they "paid into it" so they're 'entitled' to get something back.
Government WASTES more money that it would cost to provide low and middle-income Americans with health care. -RKO- 11/10/07

Answer 9

To pay for it there first needs to be a real redistribution of wealth, not the bs wealth distribution of the republican party, especially that of today's Bush Rep. that want only two class. The upper class that illegally funds their campaigns and then the rest of us in the lower paying their bills. Then there needs to be real cooperation between the govt., doctors, hospitals, and health insurance companies to come up with a system that benefits everyone, and puts health care over profits.

Answer 10

QUOTE FROM A LIBERAL LOONIE ABOVE ME SOMEWHERE:he rich don't deserve all the money. increase taxes from them.

i'm not jealous. giving people more money that others is inequality. why do they deserve more money than others? ideally, everyone should be paid equally after deducting money for health care, education etc.

btw, canada has universal healthcare and it works fine there. i lived there and it is a whole lot better than the healthcare in america. do you think the poor don't deserve access to healthcare? do you think the poor are worse off then the rich? not everyone that is poor is lazy.END LOONIE QUOTE


what are you a commie? get out! hell yes the rich people deserve more money than the people who sit in their apartments living off of welfare! they actually wWORK for their money, a concept you liberals arent familiar with.sure canada's healthcare works for THEM,t heyre a lot smaller and have a lot less influence in the world. it would never work here, for those same reasons flipped. what the liberals dont tell you is that if someone NEEDS healthcare, they can go to a hospital and get it. they cannot deny you this. but really, what theyre talking about is paying for everyones earaches and tummy bugs. do we really need that? i should say not. the poor do live worse than the rich, but for the vast majority of poor people, it is justified, since they dont do a DAMN thing to change it, relying on people to fight for them while they live off of our tax dollars. for the people who it is not their fault, they should be able to work themselves out of it anyways, so they dont really count in this. what youre saying, liberal loonie that posted somewhere above me, is communistic, unamerican. GET OUT.


EDIT QUOTE FROM THE LIBERAL LOONIE:bdog1321, what makes you think the poor don't work?? they might have not have had the oppertunity to improve themselves due to unfortunate circumstances. they should be denied healthcare???? contrary to what you think, poor are not worse off than anyone else. rich capitalist scum don't deserve all their money anyways.END LOONIE QUOTE

What makes me think they dont work? just the fact that most of them that can do a crap about being poor decide to do nothing and live off of the taxpayers. i know you will use the EXTREME minority of them that it isnt their fault, if it isnt their fault, they should be working to get back to where they were, or at least take our help to help them but not continually live off of us. I am not saying they dont deserve health care, im not even saying they dont have it. most of poor people have some rudimentary level of care, it is in fact the middle class that has the most uninsured people. dont give me this utter shite about them not deserving their money, they worked hard to get it and ill be damned if you take it and give it to someone who wont work a minute to gain money for themselves. you are the scum, not the capitalists. and, canadians pay more than doubble what we do for taxes to make their "wonderful" health care system work, and it doesnt even work. contrary to what YOU believe, the canadian health care system is failing extravagently. people are coming over here just to have their babies, dying waiting in line to have vital transplants because the care system just isnt that good. lady, with all due respect that you deserve even less than the poor deserve our welfare, you dont know what the hell youre talking about. as i said earlier, GET OUT.

Answer 11

You haven't reference a specific health care plan. There are different plans being proposed, each one requiring a careful evaluation of the costs. A generic estimate is meaningless.