What the massive turnout for a free medical and dental clinic in southwest Virginia reveals about the widening gap between health-care haves and have-nots in the United States.
Comment: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2595691/Dentists-pulling-out-more-teeth-instead-of-fixing-them.html
Well, from all the news coming out of the Uk, may want to stay away from government health care in the United States. We need better insurance rates not government control over our health that's for sure. I would suggest staying far away from this Universal Health that the Democratic keep talking about.
Comment: BE A PART OF WWW.PREDICTIONET.COM
Comment: There are 64 Volunteers in Medicine free clinics in 22 states. The website has changed to www.volunteersinmedicine.org to look up the clinic locations or how to start one if there isn't one nearby. JGG ,VIM in PA.
Comment: The uninsured should look for a Volunteers in Medicine Clinic near them. Their numbers are growing rapidly and many states have one or more. Website www.VIMI.org These are free clinics following a model set up by Dr. Jack McConnell on Hilton Head, S.C. Doctors, nurses, technicians,even dentists working under the same roof to comfort the sick and treat illness. JGG who works in A VIM clinic in PA.
Comment: Terrry Dickinson does great work in Virginia and the surrounding area. He is also responsible for helping start similar events in Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and numerous other states. Through America's Dentists Care Foundation these other freee clinics are spreading across America. July 23 CBS evening news segment " The Other America" by Seth Doane portrayed a similar event in Loveland, Colorado. Visit us at www.adcfmom.com to learn more about this great effort to provide dental care to the underserved.
Bruce Bergstrom, Executive Director, America's Dentists Care Foundation
Comment: Terry Dickinson does wonderful work in Virgnia and the surrunding area. He is also responsible for similar efforts in Texas, Kansas,and many orther states. Visit America's Dentists Care Foundation on line at www.adcfmom.com to learn about more of the great charitable dental movement that is spreading across America.
Bruce Bergstrom, Executive Dirsctor, America's Dentists Care Foundation
Comment: And this is America! Where we let our people exist without medicine, healthcare or dental care.
Well, I guess we can just rest on our laurels for sending all our money to other countries-- who cares about Americans?
Comment: Why is dental health so costly in US. A simple checkup costs 10-25 Rupees in India and root canal procedure can cost 150-300 Rupees so insurance or not people can afford. The costs in US are atrocious.
Comment: Maybe Newsweek can do a story of the UK hospitals what ya think Susanna? Looks like the rats and maggots have a gap also of the have - nots.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/majornews/2505011/Hospitals-infested-with-rats-fleas-and-bed-bugs.html
Comment: I HAVE dental insurance, which we pay for through payroll dudction like most people. It costs a fair amount of money every month, too. It covers so little that I haven't been to the dentist in more than two years due to the incredible expense of the dental work I need. I won't even go to get my teeth cleaned anymore because of the way I'm treated by the dentist and staff. As if I'm choosing to let my teeth rot... I simply cannot spend thousands of dollars on my teeth. I'd like to know who can. And by the way, demographically speaking, my family is considered 'upper middle class', income-wise. And no, we don't have car loans, credit cards, nor do we go on extravagant vacations. There just isn't that much left over at the end of the month!
Comment: Being from the Eastern Ky area, just across the border from Wise, Va, I wanted to just point out that you guys are missing the point of the argument. I'm not rich, I've never had money, I never come from money. My daddy was self educated and went into the army, My mother worked minimum wage jobs all her life. Everything we have is a result of the fruits of their labor. As a person from that area I can tell you first hand that there are some poor people who truly need the help. Those are the people that aren't in line getting the help, they are at home trying to make it with what they have. If you read the comment from Daplane that went to work in the coal fields in 1977 ( see comment below) what he says is true. I knew numerous people who would take advantage of anything the system would offer because they didn't want to work. You can call it being underpriviledged or that they didn't know any better, lack of education or whatever. What it comes down to there are people who can work, who spend thier days doing whatever they want to do and we pay them to do it. Our good ol' welfare, social security checks are going to people who are well enough to hunt, fish, fix thier house, work outside at spare jobs for under the table money. Understand that no one begrudges anyone who truly needs help the means or charity to get it. I am upset that perfectly capable people are out there living off of those who work hard. Doesn't it make anyone else upset that you work hard at your jobs, 40+ hours to provide for your family. There are days that you want to stay home and be with your kids, or go spend time with your spouse but you go to work becuase you have bills and a responsibility to take care of yourself. That is the argument that I want to make ist hat thise Doctors W/In Borders is all great but most of the people that come there can take care of themselves but choose not to. They would rather spend thier money on thier wants instead of their needs. You are paying for those who are too lazy to work. This is not about the government stepping in and giving more health care to the poor. It's about getting those undeserving people off of welfare so that the one's who truly need it can get the help they deserve.
Comment: Hey FATJOEY,
Poor spelling could be just another word for lazy
Comment: Hey FATJOEY ---poor spelling could be another word for lazy too
Comment: One of the problems, is that some people can afford medical attention when needed, but prefer to go to these RAM groups to get their medical or dental done so they can spend their money on other things that they want, not need. This takes services away from those that truly need it and this is sad. I know of some that go and have told me I shouold go because it is free, but I would rather pay than take away from a child or senior that can not afford to pay.
Comment: remember your jury duty when you awarded someone $30million over a simple mistake? well now you know why health care costs so much!!
Comment: The system is messed up because insurance covers the real const of services and doctors are so scared of being sued they order every test in the world. Example, bowlegs run in my family..my nephew went for his 12 month check up and ended up being sent for wrist.knee xrays (600$+) plus calcium and vitamin d work up (300+$) to test for rickets. Everything came back normal. When my son went in for this 12 month check up, my doctor recommended a cod liver oil supplement and to check back in 3 months to see if he had outgrown it. He did. Before we talk about universal care, we have to address the way health care is administered or we will be declaring bankruptcy as a country
Comment: My mom volunteers for this program every time it is in Wise, where I am from. I can tell you, the majority of the people who are helped are NOT lazy, just underpriviledged. I think this is a wonderful thing being offered to people who need help and care.
Comment: underprivlidged is just another word for lazy
Comment: The politics of organized dentistry, e.g. the American Dental Association, keeps Americans in dental pain because the ADA and other dental groups lobby our legislators, dangling their deep pockets & PAC money ,t o get fluoridation schemes passed which only give the illusion of helping low-income Americans. The truth is that 80% of dentists refuse to treat Medicaid patients and over 100 million Americans lack dental insurance.
The solution is to allow Dental Therapists to work in the US as they do in other developed countries. They are two or three year trained individuals who can do simple dentistry including some drilling, filling and pulling. They work in mouths and localities where dentists refuse to go and accept Medicaid. The first ones are working in rural Alaska where the ADA spent over $1 million trying to thwart the Dental Therapists.
Organized dentistry almost always blocks any group from infringing upon its lucrative monopoly. That's the real reason the above dental story even exists. In America, everyone whould be able to get their teeth fixed - even low-income people with poor diets that may or may not be their own fault.
No one cares what drove wealthier Americans to get their caps and crowns - as long as their insurance or wallets paid for it.
While fluoride use is growing, so is tooth decay along with fluoride overdose symptoms - white spotted, yellow, brown and/or pitted teeth now afflicting up to 48% of US school chidlren.
there is no dispute that too much fluoride can actually decay teeth. We have loads of evidence that our children are fluoride overdosed; but organized dentistry keeps pushing more and more of it as if it were a panacea to the dental health crisis Americans are facing because of a dentist deficiency not a fluoride deficiency
Politics plays a heavy hand in this.
C
Comment: all the hillbillys want free dental for their METH MOUTH!
Comment: everyone complains about health insurance but not auto insurance,,,its sick,your car is more important then your family?
Comment: I am a pediatrcian practicing in arabia and a frequent visitor to the USA, the land of the plenty! I am just shocked that the richest country in the world, which can afford to spend billions in foreign aid mostly to oppressive regimes, cannot take care of its own people. It is is a shame to see those lovely hardworking folks undergo this ordeal to get what I consider is their basic right. There is something seriously wrong in the healthcare system in the USA, and I don't believe that any doctor in his heart is satisfied with this kind of service to his fellow countrymen and women.
Comment: It is becoming increasingly clear that profits much be removed from the health care system. Honest and fair wages and salaries: yes. Profits, no. Health care for most of our history has been nonprofit in large part, from hospitals to Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Starting under Reagan came a big push for converting hospitals and insurance to profit-oriented greed and that was the end of a sane health care system. Stop it nenoughenough.
Comment: It might help if the massive funds spent by the Drug Companies advertising their products on TV and paying their senior executives was put towards helping the genuine need shown in this article, The health business in the USA is about conning people to take medicines and treatment that they really don't need just to provide more money for the health Industry its shareholders and managers.
Comment: It's a shame not to provide medical and dental care for people who have no insurance and no money to pay for it. But not hard to understand how it happens with a government willing to waste so many resources on a useless and uncalled for war. They are just not the kind of people who should run this country. I will duck now while a number of people who think otherwise begin to hurl things in my direction.
Comment: The governement we elect that goes and murder people around the world so that it can extort their resources REFLECT what we in the majority are all about...then somoene boast we are a great people and nation .... We might not individually go and kill for oil,... nevetheless we gladly let our governement do it for us and/or do nothing to stop them and continue to elect the same warmongers thiefs etc....with all the very convenient excuses to justify it, except the real but inconvenient truth we do not want to hear about because it is exposing what we actually want(oil) and are ... a bunch of selfish people in its majority.... that's why we have so many uninsured people in the country.... 18,000 people are dying every tear for lack of insurance...and nobody cares ...so much for being a great country! and a great people!
except for a minority could care less about the rest of us ..that's why we have so many uninsured etc... etc..ired people ercc.. footthat did nothing to us reflect what the majority of the people of our ccoubtry are all about ....then many thinks we aew
Comment: It is about time. So many leave this country to help others and forget
to give back to their own communites.
Thanks to all the volunteers!
Comment: This type of charity and volenteerism is what makes America great! And more would be better! Lets' not let the cynics in the shadows suggest that all this effort the Government can do, do more of and do better. It's just another Big Lie to make us all feel something can be got for nothing for someone in a plight.
Constructive criticism is beneficial... but the Liberals whispering is not constructive. It's intentionally calculated destructive cynicism of the type socialist have use to mess countries up since the late 1800s.
The US version of social attack is the America Sucks First campaign. of the DNCs Left Wing. It's a wrecking ball!
Don't buy it people! The Country you save may be your own!
America is a great country! Americans are great people! Don't let ANYONE try to convince you your countrymen suck!
Comment: Another Republican propagandist (I am an Independant) and/or the typical stereotyped Republican whose brain never went beyond the first gear!
Comment: Well,buddy! How about a kind word for the volenteers? Or any other American? Do you do volenteer work? Yup...I'm conservitive! I have done volenteer work and am very inspired by these Doctors whose honest efforts go beyond my humble ones.
You are indipendently deep into Americans Suck First, And it's not propaganda to oppose discrimination campaigns and the agitprop which sustains them. Americans HATE discrimination campaigns.
America is great becuase AMRICANS live here and VOLENTEER here. Don't let anyone convince you your countrymen suck...and your brain is unsafe at ANY SPEED if you can't find something constructive to say about medical profesionals donating time to needy Americans.
Have a happier day soon!
Comment: All Cates said is true. Many docs have to pay at least one person just to submit all bills to various insurance companies, at least three people to run the office, and at least one if not more nurses to help run the clinic. (Not to mention when people are on vacation.) Six people at 50k per year minimum plus benefits = 80k each * 6 = 480k per year. Add office costs including utilities, malpractice insurance, student loan cost and you are looking at about 700k per year operating cost. The collection on billable services was about 33% last year ( we take care of many who do not pay by the way). That means we had to bill for $2.1 million just to break even last year. That does not include the doctor salary and benefits. Unless the doctor is a specialist, it is hard to bill for more than $2million in a year without giving each patient 5 minutes tops. Doctors have to come up with creative ways including offering procedures to make the necessary cash. It doesn't make them greedy. I do think the insurance companies are greedy. They have an adversarial relationship with both doctors and patients. They deny claims at every opportunity. Blue Cross/Blue Shiled recently lost a big case and had to pay out millions to the doctors for withholding or down charging services. I fear a government ran system just as badly. I fear they will fix payments and docs will not be able to recoup their costs.
We are in this in the first place when the miners had their wages fixed (a socialist move) and the black market prevailed and insurance was given as a source of fringe benefit. Medicare soon followed (another government entity). Now wer are stuck in a system that cannot pay for itself. Is there hope?
Comment: Universal???everybody gets health care. It is considered a right and not a priviledge.
Socialized???The government owns the hospitals and the pharmacies and pays the doctors a salary. Examples: Vetrans Admin, US military, England, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Although in Sweden the hospitals are moving into private hands which has improved the health care. (Prior to that act they were having strikes due to the problems with health care.) So they are becoming single payer. Denmark is locally controlled and the Government just foots the bill. This also seems to be working better then other forms of socialized medicine. England has had trouble with it health care system in the past but is starting to reward doctors for keeping their physicians health and things are improving.
Single Payer???The government pays the hospital, doctors, pharmacies set amounts for care. They are the largest "insurance company". In Canada they are the only insurance company but Canada is the exception to the rule. In most countries with single payer there are other private insurance companies but they are not allowed to make life and death decisions and are highly regulated. They primarily offer better service. Getting in to the doctor quicker, private rooms etc. Out of network doctor may charge more in some countries in which case the patient or an insurance company picks up the rest. Examples: Canada, Finland, Italy, Spain, Medicare and Medicaide.
Multi Payer: French Style???There are insurance companies that pick up the tab initially but the government foots the bill for most of the health care and reimburses after the bill is initiated. This all occurs very quickly by electronic billing. The insurance companies pick up the rest of the bill the government did not pay. The insurance companies are heavily regulated and not allowed to charge outrageous amounts or to decide what will and will not be covered. The medical system may or may not work more efficiently then above types but it is more popular with the local population. Examples are France and Japan. France was featured in the movie "Sicko" and was judged the best health care in the world by the WHO.
Multi Payer: German Style???The local governments formed their own insurance companies. In the 1920-1930???s these local ???sick funds??? were then networked to form large agencies on a national scale. The government regulates what must be covered and other ???rules??? but otherwise these are locally financed and run health care. There is a high degree of satisfaction with this type as well although it does cost more because the administration portion is duplicated multiple times throughout the nation. Example: Germany.
Comment: Well, I think its a right not to have health care or the government in control of my affairs. What you think about that.
Comment: Do you really think the government ISN'T in control of your affairs?? Really?? The government controls everything from your bank to your food. Also, have you ever stopped to think about taxes? What exactly are we getting for our tax money? In Canada and many European countries, they get free education through college and free healthcare. Both of those systems blow ours out of the water, I might add. What do we get for our tax dollars? A crumbling infrastructure and bloated defense budget on a useless war, while our people become more and more illiterate and die from preventable diseases.
And before you use the same knee-jerk "move there then!" response, no, I don't want to move there. I want my country to be as great as it once was. It's sad that any type of criticism is seen as unpatriotic. Our forefathers wanted this country to be a great place to live, and they firmly believed in scrutinizing every detail and coming up with ways to fix things. The system is broke, it needs fixed.
Comment: So, you are admitting that our government is broken and we should let them do our health care too and college? Yep spoken with total truth. The system is broke so give it more control thats your answer?. Did you even read what you just wrote.
Comment: Greedy insurance company = bad
People = us = USA = government = good
American Insurance overhead = 32 percent = bad
Medicare overhead = 2.5 percent = good
America spends 18 percent GDP on health care = bad
Europe spends 7 to 10 percent on GDP = good
America ranks 37th on WHO health care quality = bad
ALL major European countries rank higher = good
So to recap for the slow ones ??? America spends twice as much for healthcare as Europeans and our quality of care is markedly lower.
Why American continue to defend a system that is not in their best interest is beyond me.. I guess it does highlight the power of propaganda. The greedy insurance companies have got these rubes believing that corporations are somehow more trust worthy than We The People and that America is somehow bad and can do nothing right.
Comment: I agree with the McGruder comment. It has to be out of the government hands and into the hands of individuals maybe with portable plans. People good...government bad. The government cannot make the decisions for every individual because there is no law or rule that covers all circumstances. Each American or American family must get their own plan and get real about their health situation (meaning smoking, drinking, etc.). It is not all other Americans' fault that some other American smokes. If people would excercise, stop smoking, and stop drinking, I would be out of a job. Dr. W
Comment: Thanks. My grandfather was a country doctor in North Carolina. When I was staying with them when I was little, I remember him being paid for with food. My mother told me that he was once paid with a possum which they never ate because her sister thought it was a cat. My cousin is an oncologist in Virginia, and I know they visit smaller hospitals in the remote areas, but there probably needs to be better incentives to get improved medical care to the remote areas. I don't think possums will cut it anymore! - Flash (a PhD)
Comment: Congratulations on the PhD, Flash.
Comment: Opossums. Pogo. The ultimate opossum. I always forget the "o", too.
Comment: Interestingly, the current group medical plans were created during WW2 because coal miners were going to strike because the mine owners were making money hand over fist while wages were frozen be Federal mandate. As a work-around, Congress approved a company health plan and gave the companies a tax break to offset the costs. So the miners effectively got a pay raise. Then it spread to other companies. Now the costs have gone through the roof for reasons that I have never seen realistically explained. So what was a reasonable ???system??? has gotten unreasonable. The Federal government caused the current system and now needs to fix it .
Rather than a ???national health care??? system, one alternative is to replace the current group plans with individual or family plans that are portable. To make the plans affordable, a basic coverage can be used as a start with additional coverage chosen ???cafeteria??? style. To make the monthly costs low, the ???high deductable??? route can be used so that the monthly costs for the plan are low. There are lots of people that complain about costs but still have cell phones, buy beer regularly, and buy lots of crap that ends up being sold at yard sales. With some basic education and some basic changes, most people would be able to afford at least the basic care.
To further lower costs, if anybody has a lifestyle that increases illnesses and medical costs, they should pay more for being stupid. If you are stupid enough to smoke cigarettes, you should pay more for being stupid. If you are obese, you should pay more for overeating. If you use drugs, you should pay more for being stupid. If you drink too much, you should pay more. The rest of us should not have to pay more for people who are stupid. Any of these stupid people would be able to pay for an individual medical plan by stopping the things that they do because they are stupid.
A PBS show about effective medical systems in other countries (none of which were modeled after the US system), showed that medical plans can be run by public companies without becoming a government-run system. There is no reason why we can???t do it here.
Comment: PLAN with High Deductible... is the main reason why 50% of pepole had to file for bankruptcy due to medical bills among those who had insurance coverage and/or under insurance coverage..As far those who smoke,drink just hike the tax on those products..etc......
Comment: The truth is that the people are getting exactly what they are paying for. The market is always right. If more dollars were in the pot, more doctors, facilities, and health care workers would come in to help more and take care of more patients. I always think about the VA system here in the US when these questions and issues arise. I can tell you after working in all types of systems here in the US that the Vets get great care when they get care but not everything is an emergency. I know that many have waited six months for an MRI. Health care is rationed in these systems. I also know a doctor who grew up in Canada that now practices in the US. He tore his ACL in his knee playing soccer and had to wait 6 months for an MRI in Canada. This is how a single payer system works after the excess capacity has been eliminated from the system. Americans currently pay a hefty premium for getting it when they want it and how they want it. I like it that way.
Comment: I worked for an immigration attorney a few years ago and spoke with many Canadians. I often asked them about their healthcare system and wondered if the horror stories I heard were true. Each and every time, I heard a resounding no. They said that in emergency situations, your care is the same as it is here (and actually better, no 2+ hour wait at the ER). They told me that for routine well visit checkups, yes, the wait was long...but how is that any different from me waiting 2-3 months for my annual checkup? Do you really, intelligently think that someone would have to wait 6 months for a torn ACL, at risk of healing improperly, or 2 weeks for a broken bone (as someone else on this board said)?? Really? That's crazy, and illogical...pure exaggeration.
Comment: Oh, my Goodness! What about a medical-dental VISTA? I went into medicine to help people, to be able to give of myself, my caring, my medical knowledge to those in need. Contrary to popular belief, I believe that a lot of health care professionals would look upon the opportunity to help the less fortunate without monetary charge. Surely that could be a reachable star. Thanks. "Dr. D."
Comment: We only collect on 33% of our billable services. How's that for charity?
Comment: Oh, my Goodness! What about a medical-dental VISTA? I went into medicine to help people, to be able to give of myself, my caring, my medical knowledge to those in need. Contrary to popular belief, I believe that a lot of health care professionals would look upon the opportunity to help the less fortunate without monetary charge. Surely that could be a reachable star. Thanks. "Dr. D."
Comment: Mmmm, lets see! Lack of education, poverty, scammers, corrupt politics, greedy Dr's., hospitals for profit, and insurance fraud, lack of gainfull employment oppertunities, lack of adequate health care facilities and lack of qualified healthcare personels. Yep, sounds like it is broke but it ain't going to fix itself. It's business as usual unless we all get off our asses and force change. Do it legally and become informed about your elected official and candidates running for public office. Then follow up on their voting record and impeach them if they allow special interest groups or lobyists to sway their vote against the will of their electoriate. When was the last political figure in your area tar-ed and feathered, run out of town and or impeached because he ignored the peoples interests for favors or special interests. Time to vote the GOB's (good old boys) out and become a knowledgable voter. There are equally good and bad politicians on both sides so that while voting straight party lines is easier it won't fix the problem. Be an independent voter and vote for the candidate that best represents your interests and it looks more and more like it ain't the incumbent.
Comment: Having lived and practiced in both the USA and Europe I can confirm that there are no "waiting lists" for services. These stories are propaganda planted by greedy insurance companies that don't want Americans to find out they are paying twices as much as they need to for inferior access to care. In fact the services are generally better and easier to access in Europe. The final insult is that the easy access and superior care that Europeans enjoy, actually costs half as much as we pay in premiums.
Check the facts at: http://www.accc-chiro.com/National%20Health%20Care%20ACCC%2006.ppt
Comment: No offense intended, but why are you now practicing in the US instead of Europe?
Comment: Cates said that he or she has practiced both in the U.S. and in Europe, not that he or she is currently practicing in the U.S.
Comment: GoodWill Hunting2008: You show your ignorance by assuming that all people without health insurance are poor and lazy. Had you looked at the statistics, you would see that the fasting growing section of the population without insurance is middle class America! I have a master's degree and worked hard only to lose my job, my insurance and ended up walking around with impacted and infected teeth until I could scrape together enough money to pay for dental procedures, along with food, shelter, GAS, etc. If someone would have offered free treatment, I would have been all over it like a rash on a bug bite.
I am always a bit suspicious about those who take pot shots at the poor for accepting handouts. My guess would be you asked for handouts but were turned down at some point. Get over it. If you really want to do something proactive, write your local,state and national politicians asking for some medical/dental insurance relief.
Comment: You are missing the point. In your case you are someone who ran on hard times and needed help to get you through. I've been there too and no one is ever going to make someone feel bad about taking help when you truly need it. There is nothing wrong with charity to those who need it. What we are upset about is people who expect it because they don't want to work or feel that the government or the world owes them something for living. Everyone wants to be able to have a church or a family member to turn to when things get bad so they can get a bit of help but when you start looking to the government to provide for you for everything then it never gets better for anyone.
Comment: There is a lot of abuse out there. Lazy people take away from those who truly need the help.
Look at welfare
Comment: RE: not affording dental and eye care.
Most of us have money for what we WANT to spend it on. In the stories photos there were some newer cars and trucks. People had money for tatooes, etc. -- but not the DDS.
From experience as a volunteer advocate for low income folks in my community I find there is money, but not priorities. They have money for Netflex, cable TV, a cell phone, eating out 1-3 times a week., etc. Yet, they will not budget, change their priorities and spend it on their health.
The really low income folks I work with are on medical assistance which picks up the tab for the medical.
For the folks that don't qualify we have MN Care, which is reasonable monthly cost. Yet, they would rather spend it on pleasure and entertainment.
UNIVERSAL health care NO, NO, NO. We need priorities, values and budget education.
Comment: Health care is not free. The government does a poor job of managing business as is seen from the current deficit. This would make matters worse. Germany loses half their doctors every year because their opportunities are better elsewhere. When did you see a major healthcare breakthrough come from Germany or other European nations in the last 50 years? They all come from the US and this system because we poor the research dollars into the pot. The better question is why did the young girl in her 20's need her teeth pulled in the first place? It is her responsibility to take care of them. I earned less than the texas high school teacher last year and I paid for my family's health care (we had a baby last year), my insurance, food, and still managed to have birthdays and Christmas. Americans have to understand that they must stand on their own two feet and Obama, McCain, or anyone else will not do anything about it nor should we expect them to. Lastly, I work with a German doctor that came over from Europe and will tell you we are better off. Like to wait for 3 years for your heart surgery? You will be dead by the time you get it in those countries. If you are over 50-years-old in the UK, you would not get a renal transplant like you do here. You would just be out of luck. You know the alternative. I wish Americans were more educated about health care.
Comment: I sympathize with most individuals who suffer without healthcare - I'm one of them. However, this idea of "free" healthcare provided by the government is a myth - there's no free lunch. In other words, we will pay the price of the increased demand of health services through taxation and other associated costs - something many of us are not willing to do. Not only are many people unwilling to bear the cost of poor decisions made by others (i.e. smokers, drug abusers, etc, etc.) but many are unwilling to be forced by the arm of the gov't to stand in line behind these people at the doctor's office.
The only way to better care for the individuals in need is to eliminate the government's paternal hand in these affairs. The people of the U.S. are always quick to turn to legislation to get us out of a pickle. It is this sort of interference that put us in this situation. Why not take gov't out of the equation and put the fruits of every worker's labor in their deserving hands? There's no doubt in my mind, considering the compassion expressed here for the needy, that this sort of action would lay the foundation for more charity.
Conversely, this "privatization" of sorts would favor the pockets of healthcare consumers. We often assume that more people would simply not be able to afford healthcare without gov't assistance. However, what many often fail to consider is the affect a reduction/elimination of assistance would have on healthcare providers - currently, providers have no incentive to lower prices. Without gov't subsidy, they would have every incentive to do so.
I urge people to look to the institutions that motivate the behavior of individuals and our markets before we ask our government to extend yet a larger hand.
Comment: Too much finger pointing, not enough looking in the mirror
Comment: Spot on! You are absolutely correct! Finally someone who gets it!!!
Comment: All I hear is "what can the goverment do to help these people! ". " Where's the government to help all those poor unfortunate souls?". What about people taking responsibility for thier choices. I went to school with alot of girls who made it out of high school not pregnant. People have choices in life and that is what should be taught is that you are responsible for your actions. What about people relying on themselves to make thier life better. It's called hard work, long hours, two jobs, going to school. Doing what you have to do to get yourself out of poverty to a better life. It's not easy but the opportunities out there for anyone who is willing to apply themselves to make a better life. No one would begrudge a hard working person a hand up when things are down. As a country we want to help those who need the help to get ahead but we hate to support those who would rather take a hand out and live in poverty as long as they aren't responsible for themselves or their actions.
Comment: Exactly, people don't understand the argument. Every time i read lack of compassion it just further proves the point. The argument here isn't about helping others. I am all for helping others but I choose to live in a free nation so that my government does not FORCE me to provide for others who are too lazy to take care of themselves.
Comment: Oops, sorry for the double-post. The site didn't tell me my comment had been posted, so I thought it was lost in the registration cycle.
Comment: Kudos to Tim Kaine for attending this and setting up the satellite dental offices. He really gets the unbalance in this country. Some people turn their nose up at the less fortunate and label them lazy. Some people are lazy. But healthcare should be a right. And if you are twenty five working in a shoe store for minimum wage, you can not afford health insurance. Period. You should not have to work two jobs just to afford the insurance. This problem will be worse in a McCain administration. He wants to take away the tax incentives from companies that provide healthcare to their employees. Which is where most people, including myself, receive their health insurance. This election is so important.
Obama/Kaine '08
Comment: If Germany, Canada, Cuba, France, Italy and Great Briatain can have some type of Universal Health Care and make it work, why can't the U.S.? I'll tell you why...GREED! And West Virginia is a drop in the bucket. Why is it that we can take care of other people of the world except ours? Taxes would probably rise but guess what, you won't be be stuck with astronomical bills if something does happen to you, and yes, you can get stuck with bills even if you have health insurance. Higher taxes or possible death, you choose.
Comment: Have you even read anything about those health care systems? Or are you just regurgitating crap that you hear? Those place have extremely long lines in the emergency rooms to be seen by doctors. If you need a medical procedure you are put on a waiting list...and you may be alive when you are approved. Not to mention the people that can afford it come to America to get procedures done because our doctors are better than the ones in their country.
Comment: Have YOU ever read anything about those health care systems? What you spouted was a complete lie. I've lived in two countries with government run systems, BOTH of which are at the top of health care ratings, New Zealand and France and neither one of them had lines at emergency rooms. And just because you're SITTING in a waiting room in emergency in the U.S. doesn't make it any less a long line!
I'm not advocating for the French system because doctors took some serious "guinea pig" advantages of their patients, in using techniques and procedures that they wished to try out and see how they would work. I was one of them. With no oversight, they had the ability to basically play God. But I see that happen in the U.S. too, so for me it's a wash. I think what concerns me most about the article, that so far no one has picked up on... is that the U.S. is put in the same category as Ghana and East/West African countries. Those are THIRD WORLD people! Hello!!! There is a very sincere exclamation point on the fact that we are lumped into that category. That shows a very large problem that cannot be ignored. We MUST change the system here in the U.S. I also fault the cost of college for ALL college bound and fault businesses who require a college education for a job that truly doesn't need one.
Comment: We should ask our politicians to answer a basic question - why our country pays the most for health care and get the least in return. Until we force them to respond to that millions of us will be an injury or disease away from poverty, bankruptcy - or even worse.
Comment: I completely agree with leprechaun. When every single person in this country has the education and health care they need, then we can worry about helping people around the world. For now, we need to stop ignoring those in THIS country that need us. Bring all those soldiers home, and use the medics to provide free health care to people who can't afford it, and use those tanks and Hummers to transport people to the doctors.
It is inappropriate for the US government to presume that it knows what is best for people in other countries when it can't even begin to grasp what is best for the people who live within our borders. Quit spending all my tax dollars on people in other countries. Spend it on the people here, and educate them on how to provide for themselves.
First begin with sex education so they learn how not to get pregnant before they can provide an appropriate life for themselves, let alone a child. I had it, and I abstained (and not for religious reasons either) until I knew I would be able to take personal responsibility for my actions should I get pregnant. I don't blame these people for choosing that path; instead I blame the fact that they didn't know how to stop the vicious poverty cycle.
It breaks my heart that the woman in the story wanted all her teeth taken, even the good ones, because she didn't know when she would have the opportunity to see a dentist again.
Comment: To all the US all health care is not free in Canada. You pay for all dental care and some health treatments but it is not burdensome.
Comment: It is heartbreaking stories like this that make me wonder why the US is so involved in the affairs of other countries. I say we bring it all in and stay out of other people's business until every person in this country has appropriate care. Why are we worried about people in other countries who cannot subsist when we have people here who cannot subsist.
The argument of, "people are being mistreated in other countries" does not hold weight with me. Give me a break! People are being mistreated in THIS country. When each person in the US can live with appropriate health care, a way of caring for themselves (where Welfare is only for the disabled who CANNOT work, and as a temporary fix, not a way of life as it is now), only THEN should we consider helping other people out.
I believe that what is happening in this country is a form of ethnic cleansing - letting the people who haven't been given the proper education to allow them to provide for themselves is simply setting them up to fail. They don't have proper "reproductive education", so 15-yr olds get pregnant when they don't have any way of caring for themselves let alone another human being. They can't educate their kids on how to break the cycle because they don't know.
Comment: Comment: Sad enough the Mccain wants to drill oil now because that is a convenient stance. What about healthcare for the have-not. So long election can be won by enriching corporation, healthcare will forever remain buried by our politicians.
Comment: It should be a source of complete embarrassment to the government of the USA, that we have one of the worst healthcare systems in the entire world. We spend untold billions on a questionable war, decide to send millions to nations far and wide to help them with their difficulties. Any illegal alien that enters this country is assured medical care at no expense, food, shelter and an education. Yes, these are ILLEGALS. We can find money for anything, any whim of those that govern, yet, when it comes to available and affordable healthcare for OUR OWN, we are not able to afford it. I think a large part of the issue is that our legislators, for the most part, are totally out of touch with their constituency. As the economy gets worse the ability to afford medical care will be all the more difficult.
One can only hope and pray that some day soon, we will acknowledge this healthcare problem, and put the level of determination to it's fix, that we as a nation have put into getting a man on the moon, or now, going to Mars. Personally, I really don't give a damn if there is or ever was water on Mars. We have more important things to do right here at home.
Comment: I am a high school teacher in Texas it would cost almost 800 to carry my family on my school plan a third of my income. My husband also teaches max pay for teacher in texas i 44,000 after 20 years of teaching we are both years from that. This is one reason teachers are leaving the teaching field here 50 percent after 5 years in the teaching field. You can make more money and better benefits by just managing a fast food joint etc. Sad I have 4 children no insurance.
Comment: A Texas high school teacher, with 5-9 years of experience, earns an average salary of $42,178.
That was an average of both public and private schools.
And you all get paid less than the average high school football coach in TX. Yeesh! Move to Ohio!
Comment: I can't believe a teacher has no health care insurance. Maybe you should consider being a public school teacher in a state other than Texas. My friends who are teachers(Ohio Pa and NY) are not highly paid but their pension and benefits are outstanding. They travel to Europe every summer and have lovely houses. They aren' t driving Lexus (Lexuses? Lexi?) but they absolutely have health care insurance for their families.
Comment: This is true. I live in Ohio and went to a relatively poor, rural school from kindergarden through high school. Our teachers made a decent living--not rolling in money, but middle-class--and they had good health insurance and retirement packages. The teachers at more affluent schools in pricey suburbs make even more.
Comment: In a few locations throughout the U.S. there are clinics called Volunteers In Medicine. There low income persone tha do not have any axcess to medical insurance, or who are not on Medicaid, can apply to receive free healthcare, including dental.
Comment: It sucks having to sleep in the bed you make
Comment: Your a moron!
Comment: No you're a moron.
Please have some substance to your argument
Comment: Ahh, what a wonderful statement!! So full of understanding and compassion. If only everyone thought this way. Could you imagine? Wouldn't the world be a better place? You only get one chance in this life so just...be perfect!! Easy. And if you should happen to make a mistake...just fix it!! And if you can't? Well, then I guess you're up the so-called creek without a paddle, my friend!!
Comment: Some of the commenters here have discussed the nastiness, heartlessness, etc. of posters. Here's what I believe drives this, in plain language:
1) Earning a living today SUCKS - stagnant wages, constant threat of job loss, unpaid overtime, dwindling benefits etc.
2) Even the best of us have weaknesses - smoking, excess weight, etc. - and fail to change them.
Thus, we have earned better care because we labor. Those who work keep a country running.
From our own lost battles with our weaknesses, we've learned we don't want to waste resources treating alcoholics, dopers, etc. because we don't believe they'll permanently change their ways.
Comment: Get real. Our government can put 250,000,000 in the streets of Iraq, and keep no records, but can't keep a child for 24 hour in fostercare after they graduate from highschool. It happens every graduation day in America. Sicko told the whole story on health, but did not come close to telling what life is like in everyday America.
Example: My son turned the drug dealer that sold his wife of 14 years , drugs. He turned in her and all her drug buddies hoping she could get help. He loved her so much. The next day he was told he was a dead man if the drug dealer got arrested. He was also told the Social Services would be out to pick up the children. So, our family moved him and his four children out with the clothes on their backs.
When he moved in with us we though Social services would help him get his own place. We went through most of our savings, and I, being disable, and my husband the step-father/grandfather supported them for a year. My son had a great work record , but could not find work in this area because it is a border town and greencard workers are hired . In this way the large companies don't have to pay benefits for part time workers. It saves them money, but I haven't seen it passed on to the people. Anyway. we ended up having to put our children out on the street. The social Services didn't care even though we sent them a letter.
Our son received no food-stamps , no medical, and no cash aid until he stayed in a motel with two full size beds for two months.
This story goes on. We have lived a nightmare, because of our so-call free trade.Our doctor offices are always full of people that can't understand the English language. They receive free medical, but our citizens can't. Something is wrong.
Comment: EXACTLY. We are already subsidizing health care to immigrants--we might as well nationalize it so we citizens can benefit!
Comment: I have a hunch that the majority of people who post negative comments call themselves christian. Make sure your buried in shorts, cause its going to get hot.
Comment: I can say that these people who have negative comments are unfeeling or uncaring or definitely UNCHRISTIAN!. If someone is need then I'm sure anyone who would want to help. What we are upset about..what ALOT OF PEOPLE IN AMERICA are upset about it the people who want to be handed everything and not have to work for it. I'm sure if you read the Bible you would find alot of passages about the fruits of labor, and working for what you get. Please tell me the passage where God says "hey sit on your lazy butt and let the government take care of you". I give to those truly in need, not those who don't want to work.
BTW...that lil comment you made about us giong to hell shows that you pass judgement just as good as the rest of us...soo see ya down there!
Comment: I hate to assume, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if you were correct in this thought. You know what I believe in? Karma. And when it comes around, for many, I think it's gonna be pretty ugly.
Comment: Just to be clear...this comment was in reference to the comment made by the original comment made by HolyRollers..
Comment: This is an outrage in the most "powerful" country in the world we can't even manage to make sure our citizen's have basic health coverage. I am a person who fortunately has coverage for my family and myself but that could all change in a matter of seconds if I lost my job. I feel that this type of treatment of our own neighbors is an outrage! We can spend billions of dollars on war and on taking care of other countries but we can't take care of our own. Let's start investing in the people of the United States of America and make sure they are taken care of before we try to take care of the rest of the world!!!!
Comment: Goodwillhunting22, I grew up in Southwest, VA and I can attest to the fact that this is a cultural problem, not an economic or political one. A good education is not valued here. I remember my history teacher showing us filmstrips every day instead of teaching. The vice principal used to wear t-shirts and chew tobacco during class. But these people don't live in a vacuum. They know that a better quality of life is out there. Many of them simply choose the path of least resistance--staying put and relying on the kindness of strangers. The ones who get educated leave. If you are willing to work hard you can take advantage of the abundant opportunities of this country.
Comment: I also grew up in Southwest Virginia and I have experienced this event first-hand as a news reporter. Yes there are people that scam the system. But before you judge the people who attend this event and receive healthcare, you should be a witness or live just one day in their shoes. Most recipients are very hardworking, intelligent HUMAN BEINGS who are products of generational poverty. They want a better life, but don't know how to get there. There are no jobs to speak of and there certainly isn't the quality educational system that many demand and expect in other areas of our nation. These people wait in line for hours in 90 degree heat to get a tooth pulled along with thousands of other people. No one who is truly "scamming" the system would do this. Most are in pain and have been for a long time. But they have no other options. I believe that universal health care and educational opportunities will help to change the future of this region. It will take time, money, and leadership. Southwest Virginia is a beautiful place with kind-hearted, decent individuals who often neglect their own healthcare needs to make ends meet.
Comment: You're a jackass. As someone who lives 40 minutes from Knoxville, I see first hand the effects of poverty in East Tennessee. A lot of these people have been poor and with nothing for generations. Where is anybody going to work? Factories in my town have been shut left and right and there is no where to go to work. I cannot believe that you or any other ignorant poster begrudges these people health care. You obviously have money and health care or you would not be making such an outrageous statement. You act as if the money to treat the people comes out your pocket when the services by the physicians are donated and the supplies are provided for by donations from churches and individuals. You better pray that you are not in their situation one day. Karma's a bitch.
Comment: Nope shelly, I am just like you, I make less than 30,00 ay ear. I grew up out in the country. My daddy was a self educated man, my mother worked in hotels cleaning rooms to bring us up. the one thing they taught us was that you get nothing for free. Work hard for what you want and don't take any hand outs. So no I'm not so rich person who sits around hating poor people. I'm saying I grew up in that area and I know that there are alot of capable people there who choose not to better themselves becuase its easier to get a check than to work.
Comment: I say kudos to goodwillhunting22 and what he says has a lot of merit. There are a lot of undeserving people out there that are scamming the system making it worse for those more deserving. With the current system it's not going to change. From experience, I have a cousin that has had several abortions, and 3 children out of wedlock and probably does not know the fathers. She is a professional scammer of the government tit. When she is threatened to be cut off from her unemployment for not working she will find work and work long enough to collect un-employment again. It's become a predictable pattern but our bleeding heart liberal wellfare system keeps rolling over and giving her assistance. In reality what needs to be done is the Child welfare system needs to take her children from her, when she is out bar hopping with the welfare money she scammed, put them in foster homes or up for adoption and eliminate her from the gene pool. All she is doing is teaching her off spring how to scam and use the system and breed like a rat. The sad thing is everyone of you out there either has a relative like that or knows someone that falls in this category either male or female. Most of you are in denial and turn a blind eye when it comes to admitting it. We have turned our backs and elected to let the government deal with our responsibilities thus giving us relief from ours. And yes I'm guilty as charged but it's illegal for me to solve the problem.
Comment: Yeah, see, what's wrong here? Did YOU step up to plate to get those kids out of the mess that your cousin put them in? No? but YOU are expecting the government that you lambast for helping the "scammers" for not helping. that's not hypocritical, nah. that's just it, no, we don't have scammers in my family, because we all pitch in and get the ones who need help, the help they need and not the kind of handout that continues the problem. You are sitting there not dealing with your own blind eye.
Comment: Lots of us have seen the scammers. Doesn't do any good to try to turn them in though. (tried that) Department of Human Services just never would listen, wouldn't investigate, or if they were going to investigate they would notify the people like 2 weeks in advance they were going to be there to check things out and the people would just do whatever was necessary to pass inspection, get false paperwork together etc.
Comment: Heartless, uncaring, and ignorant describes many of the comments I have read. People who have needs ought not be judged. Period. You do not walk in their shoes. If someone extends their hand, it is far better to give and possibly learn that they did not really need than to turn away someone who actually had need, for truly the vast majority of those asking are legitimate. Having been on both sides in my life, I am truly thankful that I can presently support myself and my child, however meagerly, and would not hesitate to give as much as I can to those less fortunate, whatever their reasons may be.
