There is no such thing as free health care. No rational person is asking for free health care

[Stinky The Clown]

Health care costs money.

You either pay for it in premiums or you pay for it in taxes.

The argument is access.

And cost. Who can deliver health care most efficiently while having it remain efficacious? Yes, there will always who cannot pay for health care. They are covered under the concept of "common good". Those who cannot pay for health care themselves get it because someone else pays for it. But it is never free. There is no health care fairy.

Anyone who asks about "free health care" is off base.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. And access or lack off is part of the problem

well said sinky

:hi:

[timeforpeace]

2. No "rational" person, true. But a heck of a lot of people are. Call them what you will.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

3. I think what people mean is that they want the money now spent on the military-industrial complex

CEOs to go to pay their healthcare instead.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. No some folks truly believe that health care is free

in other places... when it is paid with taxes... in a single payer model, or with payments to HIGHLY REGULATED private insurers, (See Germany, France and Netherlands for example)

[Sarah Ibarruri]

5. Hm... that's odd. Don't they realize they pay taxes? Or maybe they are too busy and

haven't given it some thought.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. I fear people are that ignorant, and this is willful

[Sarah Ibarruri]

18. Sometimes I think Americans actually enjoy choosing ignorance....

I have no clue if this is a remnant of manifest destiny, the cowboy ideology, or what. It's quite bizarre.

[Electric Monk]

7. Not free, but it gets to be invisible

Do you spend much time thinking about how much of your taxes go to public roads or to public schools? It's just part of the deal, why you even pay taxes at all. Part of the greater good.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

13. I automatically know that everyone needs to be paid, from the police, to the fire dept, to

everything. It's logical. How much can be run on volunteers?

[The2ndWheel]

14. Sounds like ignorance

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Ignorance

Don't think about it, just pay up. Just part of the deal you never had to sign off on. If you don't pay, you'll be paying the penalty that was designed for your own good. Part of that same deal which you're held to by default.

Maybe that's why people aren't too engaged in politics. It's so abstract at this point, so distant, that you don't even see it. You don't have to. As long as your money is coming in, your input isn't needed for society to function. It's not really your job to be involved. Imagine if people had a choice in what they wanted to pay for. They may not want a road, or a school, or a bomb. Can't let people think about that though. Society works in mysterious ways, and that's all anyone needs to know.

[grilled onions]

8. So Many Sliding Scales

We have some who have good jobs and have good health care. We have some who have poor jobs and poor health care. We have those who are disabled or out of work and may or may not have any health care. This group also gets hit by extremely high premiums or getting black listed from many of the top insurance companies. The system seems very unfair. If you are making $200,000 a year may be able to get, for example meds for $10 or less. On the other hand the poor jobs have such a cheap plan(if any) and the $9 an hour worker may have to pay at least two or three times that for the same meds. The last group may have to pay full price because they can't get coverage yet they may be the very group who uses more meds then either of the other groups. I don't think many are expecting a free ride but "tickets" to this medical circus should be more fairly priced.
I have several friends who pay $10 and only take one or two meds. I take nine every day and even with a Medicare plan my costs run over 2 thousand a year after their "contribution". Even when I get it by mail,get ninety day when possible, via their pharmacy,generic when available it still costs this amount. Not all my meds are available thru Canadian pharmacies either.
The thing is many should not have to struggle with finances,juggle with trying to find a cheaper source while others simply go to any pharmacy they want and get a good deal thru their insurance.

[Cronus Protagonist]

9. I want free healthcare

They can pay for it by canceling a war machine, or better yet, an entire war.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Even then you'd have to pay for it

either by taxes or other means.

This is the reality of the economic system we live in.

[kestrel91316]

11. Healthcare would cost a hell of a lot less if we didn't have to pay graft.

Gotta bribe those insurers into letting us have a morsel of medical care.

Get rid of the "gatekeepers" and pay the doctors and providers directly. Anything else is just STOOPID and a waste of money.

[xfundy]

12. Don't forget about the health systems and related manufacturers, like those bike things

for seniors--they overcharge the gov thru medicare, etc. Love to see how much their inflated prices cost the medicare system (and taxpayers) every year.

[Stinky The Clown]

16. As alluded to in the OP

"Who can deliver health care most efficiently while having it remain efficacious?"

[Edweird]

15. It is a disingenuous assertion used by insurance company supporters.

I certainly don't expect it to be free. However, I do resent the fuck out of being MANDATED to pay a CEO's salary (who in turn profits by denying care) when we already have a socialist system set up. A government enforced monopoly is wrong.

[madrchsod]

17. medicare will cost me 80 dollars a month...

i`ll go from 760 to 680 a month. i will have better access than i do with my wifes insurance.