Doctors Within Borders

I have a family of 5. Middle class. Have worked in insurance for 25 years. I pay 1/2 of my medical premium monthly, have a $4000.00 deductible and pay for my own dental which only covers cleanings. My daughter who is 20 and living at home is under her own health plan but she can not afford her deductible/coinsurance amnts so I pay those amounts. My son who is 18 was injured in April. He has to go to college so that he can stay under our insurance because he will need further care and will not be able to get his own policy soon enough to have continual coverage... We all work and work hard. I yearly pay over $10,000 in medical bills because we of the health conditions we have.

One of our biggest concerns as a nation has to be our medical care. When patients require medical care and can not pay for it, someone loses out. That is the doctor or the hospital that ends up doing free services. Most of the business's out there are out there to make money, and medicine is the one field that routinely is doing services for free. There isn't government money paid to individual providers to cover those "bad debts". Those are free services that are performed. We as a nation need to provide the basic medical care that each person deserves and provide it at a reasonable cost.

For any one out there claiming its the fault of the individuals for not working hard enough or not taking care of themselves...all I can say is eventually you will be a part of the existing Medicare system if you live long enough and you will find out first hand what limited care or restricted care is. The medical practice I work at is limiting the number of Medicare patients we will accept because we do not get paid enough to cover the costs associated with their care. Eventually we will all feel the bite of this failed system.

What were medical bills like before insurance companies became involved?

What were medical bills like before insurance companies became involved?

I think that most people don't want federally mandated programs. Those don't really work. I personally have seen too many people abuse and scam programs. It's very irritating to see people's rent paid, heating paid, getting food stamps in amounts that exceed 2 weeks of work for me, then standing in line behind them and watching them buy steak while I'm buying tuna and hotdogs to through till next payday and in the meantime they don't even try to go to work. It needs to be a supplement for people that are working, there needs to be more incentive for people to go to work, but in the meantime jobs are getting scarce and it isn't that easy to be able to try to save money to move someplace where you may or may not have it any better, so if you have to get a job at McDonalds, a program to help the working people get the healthcare they need is necessary, not just handed out to freeloaders. I started out for a privately owned company, my healthcare was paid by my employer. Corporate bought out the company. I then started having to pay for my healthcare. I'm barely making over minimum wage (raises are non-existent) but they tell us the cost is nominal (yeah, if you're making what management makes). Each year they raise our employee contribution, increase copays, take out options, yet don't give raises to compensate for it. I figure that right now, I actually make less than when I started with this company 9 years ago. But jobs are scarce and it is decent job for the area, but if anything major happened with my health, the 20% and $1,000 deductible would ruin me financially. It would be hard to fit the extra into an already tight budget.

sad is the word in this the so called richest nation, that people cant afford simple health care. housing. food and many other every day things to ensure one's survival. as we have to put up with our so called political leaders lie to us steal from us and tell us it was our own falt for voting against party lines. so what we doing people voting for a pair of idiots that only seem to care about how much dirt there goin to dig up on each other. and as for the congress and senate why is it that there still siting in office when all i ever known is how much they havent done about health safety and many other problems faced by todays adults and there children in the future. nice to know the majority of them will receive medical gas and if need be a whole lot of free meals for the rest of there lives. this goes on while we the people of america go hungry receive no medical unless we arrived here illeagaly or get locked up to much to say and no place to put i'll end it here.....

Cavallino_Rapante's comments perfectly illustrate the ignorance so prevalent in our culture. It's not that simple to "go back to school and get a college degree" or get a better job for many of these people. May you never be in their shoes, although you might be a bit more compassionate if you walked a mile in their workboots.

Social healthcare isn't the answer to anything, it'll just suck the money of normal people away into a program that will be poorly run, wasteful, and not help people just like all the other government programs. If you think socialized healthcare actually works decently, go to europe and talk to people. Particularly take note of systems in eastern Europe, forcing doctors to go on strike.

What we do need is more doctors willing to donate their time to programs such as these. We need charities to support them as well, with money donated by wealthier citizens who know where their money is going and that it's actually helping rather than going into the black hole known as the federal budget. I donate to those less fortunate, though I'm not exactly rich, if I know that my money is going to a program such as this where people feel the direct benefit. I strongly object to my money being forcably taken for a program in which I have no say for how it's run, who receives my money, and when much of it will be invariably wasted.

Bless the volunteer doctors, and support them!

This article shows how important it is for children to have access to health care. If we provided free healthcare to all uninsured children through age 18, more children would do better in school plus it would give them a better start as they become productive adults. Poor dental and physical health of children is a huge drain on our economy because of the negative effects when they become adults.

I've heard it said many times in my lifetime that "charity begins at home". How can our elected officials puff out there chest and talk about what our government is doing to help this or that country abroad. How is it then that basic healthcare is denied to the very citizens who are paying taxes to make that possible? "Lead by example" is another saying I've heard, we need to show these other governments how well we take care of our own citizens in the hopes that they will follow our example. Amercians are facing hardships right now we are no longer the land of the plenty, and haven't been in quite some time. Yet when other nations are facing hardships the ones who can give help them??? Secure our borders...Secure our jobs...Help those who cannot for medical reasons help themselves here. Prioritize Americans

antipartisan-
you are dead wrong. You cannot buy cigarettes or toothbrushes with food stamps. I work as a nurse in an ER, where we see a great percentage of patients with state funded "free" health care here in AZ. They are provided with medical and dental benefits, yet still don't take care of themselves. The old addage "you can lead a horse to water, but can't make them drink" is more appropriate than ever. Granted, there are many people who need and use, not abuse, this system, but there are 6 of 10 who abuse it. I grow weary of seeing small children brought to my Emergency Room with various complaints ranging from rashes to fever etc. The parents have not given thought to providing this child with any care on their own, no Tylenol/motrin for the fever, they haven't even taken their temperatures. Don't BS me about not being able to afford it, as long as there are dollar stores, you can buy childrens motrin for a buck. A pack of cigarettes is over $5. We need to fund education programs for these people, teach them to take a temperature, give motrin, take their own medications on a daily basis. $4 prescriptions are cheaper than ER visits. We need to stop raising people's children for them, make them accountable for their own lives, healthcare, brushing their own teeth.

It is a sad thing to see, so many of American???s that do not have health or dental insurance. I???ve experienced it myself, growing up without insurance wasn???t easy. As soon as I started working and got insurance I then noticed how lucky I was to have it. Many people take it for granted because they have never not had it. My parents still do not have any kind of insurance and anytime they are sick they just deal w/ it for weeks to a month at a time or end up in the emergency room w/ the minimum of a $1000.00 bill that they never seem to pay off. It is very unfortunate that low income individuals that are paying taxes right now are not covered by a state or national plan that is affordable to them. It???s not a matter of there not being any plans out there, it???s a matter of there being plans for the low income to be able to afford. Many fortunate individuals complain about the poor that try to obtain government handouts, but reality is that one should not have to choose between having to pay for an annual check-up or having to buy their kids back to school supplies.

I think that a military dentist and/or doctor should be "stationed" in these areas on a six month roational basis. I don't think it would be that expensive to set up a small clinic for them in which to do their service time. The military certainly finds funds for other projects.

It is a sad thing to see, so many of American???s that do not have health or dental insurance. I???ve experienced it myself, growing up without insurance wasn???t easy. As soon as I started working and got insurance I then noticed how lucky I was to have it. Many people take it for granted because they have never not had it. My parents still do not have any kind of insurance and anytime they are sick they just deal w/ it for weeks to a month at a time or end up in the emergency room w/ the minimum of a $1000.00 bill that they never seem to pay off. It is very unfortunate that low income individuals that are paying taxes right now are not covered by a state or national plan that is affordable to them. It???s not a matter of there not being any plans out there, it???s a matter of there being plans for the low income to be able to afford. Many fortunate individuals complain about the poor that try to obtain government handouts, but reality is that one should not have to choose between having to pay for an annual check-up or having to buy their kids back to school supplies.

It is a sad thing to see, so many of American???s that do not have health or dental insurance. I???ve experienced it myself, growing up without insurance wasn???t easy. As soon as I started working and got insurance I then noticed how lucky I was to have it. Many people take it for granted because they have never not had it. My parents still do not have any kind of insurance and anytime they are sick they just deal w/ it for weeks to a month at a time or end up in the emergency room w/ the minimum of a $1000.00 bill that they never seem to pay off. It is very unfortunate that low income individuals that are paying taxes right now are not covered by a state or national plan that is affordable to them. It???s not a matter of there not being any plans out there, it???s a matter of there being plans for the low income to be able to afford. Many fortunate individuals complain about the poor that try to obtain government handouts, but reality is that one should not have to choose between having to pay for an annual check-up or having to buy their kids back to school supplies.

Im at the poverty level on disability payments; are there ANY free medical and dental or vision clinics in southeast Mississippi Hattiesburg area? Pat those Volunteers on the back and ask GOD to bless those out there who cant afford healthcare to be blessed with programs to donate NECESSARY HEALTHCARE for those who otherwise would never recieve help. Remember, whatsoever you do to the least of your brothers that you have done unto me, Christ has commanded us to lookout on our fellowman .

it is a sad thing when citizens of supposedly the most powerful nation on earth have no access to basic health care.

I think that a military dentist and /or doctor should be "stationed" in these areas on a 6 month roatational basis. They get the duty and the people get the care. I don't think it would be that hard to set up a small clinic for that purpose. The military certainly finds funds for anything else they want to do. This should be a walk in the park.

The wonderful part of this story is that in America you can volunteer without someone making you. at least for now.
A 3rd world country not even close. I see no war on our state boarders denying people food or health care nor do I see labor camps for all those who oppose to volunteer under force,


Help help government save us!!! Its my job to have babies and your job tax payers to take care of them. .

Yes, it does show the difference and the ignorance of our congress that keeps sending billions of dollars in foreign aid to other countries instead of taking care of the people in this country.

I don't give a dammed if congress sent only 1 dollar, it would be 1 dollar to many if there is one person in this country that needs medical attention and can't get it.

Maybe national health care isn't the answer, but all that money that we send over seas is also tax dollars that would be better spent in this country.