The Top Ten Common Arguments Against Universal Healthcare

[MineralMan]

Those pathetic, illogical or immoral arguments basically boil down to these:

1. I'm not sick. I won't pay. If I get sick, which I won't, I'll go to the emergency room.
2. Why should I pay for other people's healthcare? I can't even pay for my own.
3. I get healthcare from my employer. Get a job, you slackers!
4. I'm on Medicare. I don't support government healthcare, dammit!
5. If you get sick, you did something wrong. I'm a Christian, goddamn it! God protects me.
6. I'm in my 20s or 30s. I'm not going to need healthcare until I'm really old. I'll deal with that then.
7. If people would stop eating meat (or some other meme), they wouldn't get sick. I don't eat meat. I don't need healthcare.
8. If it weren't for all the sick old people, healthcare wouldn't cost so much. What good are they, anyhow?
9. I pay plenty for my healthcare already. That's all I can afford. You're on your own.
10. Let the sick assholes die! More for me.

That's about it, in a nutshell. It makes things really difficult, that list.

[antiquie]

1. I was expecting the appropriate responses to the above.

[MineralMan]

2. The proper response to all of them is:

"That's just stupid, you moron. Try thinking for a change."

[antiquie]

4. My 17 y-o granddaughter

informed me Social Security was free money that was going to put her generation in poverty. Blue state, red county.

[Cal33]

10. And I hope she believed you, when you tried to enlighten her?

[antiquie]

11. So she said.

I was shocked and stammered before getting down to it. "Why no, that isn't true. I worked my entire life to earn this. Not only did I contribute my share, I contributed the employer's share because I was mostly self-employed. Perhaps the discussion you heard was incomplete." No more interest.

[Cal33]

20. Well, Good for you both!

[etherealtruth]

3. The opposition is quite skilled ....

... at playing to the bigotry and greed of folk (not to mention counting on the abject stupidity of many)

[treestar]

5. The ER one is the dumbest

Waiting until it is bad enough to need the ER is not health care.

Some others:
1. You have to wait a long time
2. Doctors will quit.
3. Death panels!!!!!!

[dipsydoodle]

6. In the UK we don't argue against Universal Healthcare / our NHS.

Period.

[MineralMan]

7. Yes. I'm talking about the United States, of course.

We haven't joined the rest of the industrialized nations yet. We continue to be too stupid to make good decisions.

[dipsydoodle]

8. I do realise that.

Yes you have yet to join the rest of the industrialized nations.

[MineralMan]

9. Yah, we're "exceptional" that way.

To our own detriment, of course.

[Prophet 451]

12. Tell the Tories that

Bastards have already started privatizing the system.

[dipsydoodle]

13. Always partly privatised in some respects.

All GP's are either sole traders or LLP's and always have been - obviously straight partnerships prior to LLP's.

They are not employed by the NHS : they do work on behalf of the NHS.

[Prophet 451]

15. Sure but...

They've started turning NHS services over to private companies. See, for example, http://www.virgincare.co.uk/

[dipsydoodle]

16. I'm aware of that

but cannot relate to the economics for those contracts.

Simplest solution to restore the NHS would be to double employees and employer NI contributions. Good luck with that given what it would do to unemployment levels.

[Prophet 451]

17. Couldn't agree more

There is actually no saving from contracting the services out. It's just the usual cult of the free market.

[Nye Bevan]

18. Does that matter? It's still single payer, universal coverage (nt)

[Prophet 451]

19. It matters because it's the thin end of the wedge

The Tories have always hated the NHS. Now they're parcelling out bits of it to private companies and talking about charging everyone an annual fee for coverage. It's privatization by the back door.

[SummerSnow]

14. They are the party of the snake oil salesman

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q0I5VGCNTKk/UC6pmQFzWwI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/NmU5j7WnzYQ/s1600/Ryan+Snake+In+The+Grass.jpg