Saturday, February 09, 2008

Senator Clinton -- you will have health care or else

The New York Times--
Senator Hillary Clinton D-NY left open the possibility on an appearance this week with George Stephanopoulos that if elected, her government would garnish the wages of people who didn't comply with her health-care plan.

Stephanopoulos, who repeatedly asked Senator Clinton three times about garnishing wages of people who refuse to participate in the program, Mrs. Clinton replied...
"we will have an enforcement mechanism, where the risk that or it's some other mechanism through the tax system or automatic enrollments."
Clinton indicated that such mechanisms would not include penalties or fines.
they don't have to pay fines... we just want them to have insurance. We wanted to be affordable. And what I have said is that there are a number of ways of doing that. Now, there is not just one way of getting to that."
Clinton commented that the focus on enforcement was clouding the issue of her proposal to cover the uninsured which would mandate coverage for all not just children.

Massachusetts, the only state with an insurance mandate, as thus far failed to enroll nearly half of its uninsured despite imposing a modest first-year tax penalty of $219 which increased significantly this year.

A point raised by Mr. Obama was that under Hillary's health care plan, forced everyone to buy insurance even if you cannot afford it or pay a penalty.

let me see if I have this straight...

Under Clinton's plan, health insurance will be mandatory.

The reason for mandatory insurance is because a large number of citizens are without insurance.

One of the major reasons I do not have insurance (speaking personally) is because I cannot afford coverage at this time.

So, if I cannot afford universal health care, where do I get the money to pay the penalties?

And if I pay the penalty for not having insurance, will that automatically enrolled me in the universal health care plan?

Both candidates, Clinton and Obama have the right idea that the US needs some type of universal health care and I think that they should take some examples of other systems around the world and use a system that will work.

In the meantime, let's put the Clintons on a strict $35,000 a year income and see which expenses that they choose to cut back.

I will bet you that health care would be one of them.

9 comments:

Bobkatt said...

This is a very complicated issue, the ramifications of which, are often overlooked by the people on both sides. I have found a very good resource for those looking for info against the current trend of free health care for everyone.
As I drift more and more toward Libertarianism I sincerely doubt the governments ability to manage anything especially something as daunting as health care.

Anonymous said...

Check the wording on all health care issues. The operative word is INSURANCE - not care. The only thing insurance does is make the insurance companies richer. Politicians usually have a company exec or two in their pocket and so will never push for affordable or accessable health CARE - just insurance.

Bobkatt said...

Most health care reform seems to target primarily on how to pay for the services not how to reduce the overall cost of them. I would like some inventive experts to come up with ideas and changes that would stop or slow the rapid increases in the cost of the care that seem to be out of control.
How about having small clinics located in shopping centers that could do routine things like check your blood pressure, xray your ankle, take your blood for a test, etc? It seems to work fine for optometrists and the competition lowers prices.
We need to incorporate more people into this solution that don't have a vested interest in just perpetuating the status quo and ever increasing prices.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to get in contact with you. Would you send me an email: oregonconservative at g m a i l . c o m

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I notice that Canadians are for the most part enjoying universal health care. The biggest complaint was waiting for an appointment. Don't we do that already? I am willing to wait if I know I will be taken care of. The politicians in this country are more worried about offending the corporation than they are of the wrath of the people.

Anonymous said...

I love the idea of insurance - NOT! Let's look at a case - man with family, wife and 2 kids, pays $900 a month in insurance premiums. Multiply that by 12 months and OH, MY, GOD, that's a lot of money. Then he has to pay the deduct. which is $2500 for his family before the insurance will kick in. Add that all up and you have a considerable sum of money that could have been put in a savings account, paid for all the Dr. visits and still drawn interest which ultimately raises the total in the account.
If you pay it to the insurance company, and no one gets sick enough to meet the deduct. the insurance company made a nice fat profit. They will not give you a rebate, they will not reward you for being well, they will simply take your money and say - "Didn't you feel safer knowing you were covered?" I'm sorry but I feel safer taking care of my own EXTRA money. Insurance is the biggest scam on the earth and needs to be addressed. Instead of paying the Ins. co., let's pay the Dr., who is the only one who can really help with our health problems.

Bobkatt said...

I want to share this link with you about the effect that the private market could have on health care if allowed to.

Robin said...

Thanks BK :-)

The Cheezer said...

Look at the side effects of socialist health care: More government control over your health - They do a terrible job with Medicare already. Do you want them to treat every American the same way? Veterans health care - nearly non-existent. They claim cost, think it will be different for you? When the government takes over health care you will see a huge unemployment problem. Because the cost will be so high, nurses and other health care providers will be laid off. Facilities will be less private and huge multi-bed wards will be opened. The insurance companies will suffer. Have any idea how many people are employed in the insurance industry? Any idea how many billions of dollars are moved thru our economy because of insurance companies?
If you want to see a recession, allow government to take over your health care. Watch as hospitals and clinics become even more overwhelmed. See nurses and other health care workers become burned out and less new grads to fill the spots. America has the best health care in the world because it is NOT run by the government. Because it is privately run, there is competition.
Want to reduce the cost of medical care in this country? Get every one to pay their bill. Eliminate crap lawsuits. It is easy to reduce the cost of health care, it just requires all of us to pay our part as we use it.