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Reforming Health Care and Gun Control

October 3rd, 2015 at 12:06 am

We need massive reform in the country on both health care and gun control. I'm liberal and I don't deny it. But right now my DH and I are experiencing life as "poor" in this country. We are watching our pennies like we never before.

Never before have we been on the type of a high deductible health insurance. Never before have we ever been worried about going to the doctor. Never have we considered the cost of a dr visit. Never before have we wonder what will happen if we have to hit the deductible. Have we been priviledged? Absolutely. DH grew up with socialized healthcare. I grew up with a mom who worked for the state so primo for the US. The idea that we worry about visits for our kids now worries me. The fact we don't have prescription coverage worries me a lot. I've always supported single payer socialized health care and never more than now.

Look the truth is for a healthy family of 4 it's costing us $560/month for basic HDHP premium. That's with a $6500 individual/$13k family deductible. Until now DH and I have had jobs that has always provided health insurance. Great health insurance. In grad school DH had premium coverage no costs as did I. His job was superb, best of any industry but the premiums were skyrocketing as I've mentioned. But we've never been without or lived looking at deductibles. We are now. It's not a pretty feeling. It's not an easy situation to asses. I know we are blessed more than others because we can financially manage, but at the same time I am looking at part-time work solely to get group health insurance again.

What does that say about our health care system? USA is the WORST in health care for 1st world countries. We have cutting edge technologies but for what? Most people can't afford it or go broke trying to pay for it. BK are caused medical bills and I can easily understand how. So people who don't want a single payer system please explain why?

I will lay out I believe health care isn't something people "afford" it should just be something everyone should have. And just moving to a single payer would probably cover the costs of it because our system is so INEFFICIENT and expensive that it costs more than all other single payer systems in other countries. So the argument it'll cost more is moot. Americans spend more on health care for less care than other countries. So why are people against it?

Second if everyone against socialized healthcare doesn't believe in it, then I hope they aren't using medicare or plan to. We have single payer socialized medicine and turns out EVERYONE over 65 is on it, it's called medicare.

Turns out everyone in the military is on TriCARE. If it is so horrible then all these military people should be turned out and given cash and they should buy their own policies. Why don't they? Because it would cost even more than what it costs now. They probably couldn't afford to buy matching health insurance for what the military costs to run Tricare. And don't tell me not. If it wasn't needed and used, then the military would probably give people money to buy health insurance but they don't.

So let's ask the question if health care should be capitalistic then everyone 65 and over and military should BUY their own insurance. All capitalistic health care supporter should put their money where their mouth is and not use Medicare or Tricare. Prove it by giving up the safety net.

And I think gun control needs regulations. I think it goes hand in hand with reforming mental health issues. But other countries don't have so many mass murders that have stricter gun control. Why is that? Is it the health care? Is it the laws? Is it a combination? Can we keep have semi automatic and automatic weapons so easy to come by?

By the way I think the "democratic/liberal" congress people are as much in the pocket as conservative republicans in congress. Neither party has anybody with backbone instead they are too busy pocketing money to do anything. Probably because they are rich enough to afford protection and rich enough to afford private schools. After all Jeb Bush and Donald Trump didn't even give lip about the sorrow, rather "things happen." Yes it happens but does it have to keep happening? Of course call up your bodyguards and private planes while the rest of us go about living.

7 Responses to “Reforming Health Care and Gun Control”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1443835858

    We're under Tricare. Yes, I love the cost. Nearly zero out of pocket for the last nine years. However...the rules we have to follow and the doctors that accept our insurance aren't so great. My choices are VERY limited. You know why? The doctors who receive compensation don't even get the their full cost of doing business. Why would a provider want to treat me if they only get 50 cents compared to 75 cents on the dollar for my visit. I'd rather pay out of pocket and have more choices. Yep, really!! I think the main problem with healthcare is INSURANCE. Before insurance, the agreement was between doctor and patient. Now the patient has to find a doctor who will agree to the rule of the insurance company they have. And the doctor can only discuss X during visit one and it you have Y then you need to come in for visit 2...because insurance companies can't bill for two visits in one. Ugh. Yep, we have govt health care and its great from a cost standpoint, but I pray, pray, pray we never have a major health issue because a very few options of doctors would be available to me if there was a major issue. I've always told my husband that I would pay out of pocket if necessary to get a doctor I wanted. No insurance company will dictate the type of care I want. EVER. That's the beauty of health care with choices. Not all 'socialized' medicine gives you that choice. Have you heard all the problems with VA health care and the waits...look it up. It's a reason NOT to have government health care.

    I agree semi automatic weapons aren't needed in this country. Mental health care is an issue. Education would go a long way to getting people help. However, I will stand for gun rights for individuals. We personally don't own them, but my husband has always wonders after these horrific events if more people carried guns would the shooter in these events be able to kill as many people? Likely not.

    I'm not going to 'convince' you to change your views, but you asked. And I appreciate you putting your view out there.

  2. Livingalmostlarge Says:
    1443839192

    CCF, long lines I understand fully. I married a man raised to it and my in-laws still deal with long lines. But the lines shorten when you have a single payer and need help. DH's best friend's dad has a triple bypass in a week in Canada. His mom had an MRI in less than 2 weeks. It takes longer in the US with INSURANCE.

    Second, have you ever priced out insurance for your family? Have you considered what it will cost to you get even the monthly premium and then pay all dr visits? Start there. Ask yourself if you don't have tricare in 11 years after you get out. Will you pay for medical insurance? And if you really believe in capitalistic healthcare why not pay for better care? Cost right? If you didn't have tricare would you be willing to shell out $1k month or more for insurance? Would you pick the cheapest plan and pray nothing happens? I've always been for single payer because of my mom, but never more so than now.

    Even with health insurance since we picked a crappy plan deliberately many drs don't take our insurance. I called many providers and they said they weren't taking new patients with that sort of insurance. Finally I got one for a new pediatrician but they were booking 3-4 weeks out. So having crappy health insurance isn't the as easy as one would think. Not to mention that even with premium health insurance the wait for specialists was always long. That with top of the line insurance referrals and waits in the US are quite long for a "payer" system. The current system is the worse of the worst.

    We can never go back to paying the dr because no one can afford surgeries, chemotherapy, dialysis, etc. Back when people could afford it there wasn't the sort of technology that there is now. Now how would you pay for implanting a pacemaker? How would you pay for cancer treatment? Financially not feasible.

    I believe in single payer. But I'm amendable if we want to go truly capitalistic. Every man for himself and you pay what you can. I'm okay switching everyone to buying their own insurance. But I question how long would that sort of truly capitalistic health care would last if we really had to dig into our pockets and pay for everything ourselves? Would people pay for cholesterol medicines? Blood pressure medications? Just everyday medicines that many people take. Could we afford it?

    And I'm not convinced people carrying guns is the answer. Gabby Giffords had a person in the crowd armed and he hurt more people than the shooter. So what would happen if we had one gunman and one "hero" who both opened fire into the crowd? Would it matter if people were killed by the "good" guy? Sort of like the number of people with guns accidentally killing their family sneaking into the house. Best of intentions. I actually have quite a few relatives in the military, police, etc and most don't own guns for fear of shooting their own family. I actually asked once and got that answer from two different uncles and a cousin who were military. One was a sniper but he doesn't have a gun now just a baseball bat.

    I don't think expanding gun control to the same limits as other countries unreasonable. But I want to understand why if the number of US citizens believe 70% there should be more restrictions why Congress can't move forward? Why do so many people want some expansion of gun control but there be failure by both political parties? The only person I hear speaking on it is Obama. Where are the rest of those shameless democrats? I am liberal but register as an independent because I honestly feel many democrats are in the pockets of lobbists.

  3. LuckyRobin Says:
    1443840357

    I think a lot of the reasons we have more killings in America is we have a much, much, much larger population than most of the other countries and basically no mental health support. Also, I think our media is more out of control when it comes to jumping on every single shooting that happens and plastering it over everything for days on end than in other countries where the media is far more controlled, so we hear about it much more. In countries that don't have access to guns, we get mass bombings and poisonings. As someone who was going to college during a college shooting on my campus when I was 20, I am disgusted by the way the media takes advantage of these incidents. The guy who did the shooting at my college said if he hadn't had a gun he'd just have found another way. It's about the mental health of the individual more than any other factor, in my opinion. A person dead set on killing will kill, regardless of the medium he or she chooses to do so with. It's just easier in this country for that medium to be guns.

  4. PatientSaver Says:
    1443901665

    I agree with everything you say. Jeb Bush's comment was horrendous. One act of gun violence is one act too much. There are plenty of nut jobs out there who never see a therapist or anyone in the mental health care system.

    Saying we should focus on upping mental health care while ignoring the easily-accessible-to-anyone-who-wants-them weapons in this country is like saying yeah, that bridge is falling apart and treacherous, but instead of barricading entry to the bridge to protect people, let's just focus on providing more counseling to people who still want to drive over it.

    REALLY convoluted thinking.

  5. PatientSaver Says:
    1443901726

    Living Over Large, you asked:

    But I want to understand why if the number of US citizens believe 70% there should be more restrictions why Congress can't move forward? Why do so many people want some expansion of gun control but there be failure by both political parties?

    The answer: NRA is a very powerful lobby.

  6. RRR Says:
    1443928646

    Tricare is a benefit for military members. If you want Tricare, join the military and put your life on the line. Wait!! Tricare doesn't sound so great anymore, does it?

    Your argument with Tricare is like saying that everyone who works at Target should forego their health insurance and buy it on the open market. Um, for what? It's a benefit of the job.

  7. starfishy Says:
    1443968202

    i often wonder what the answer is for gun violence in the US. i'm not convinced that more people carrying weapons would help during mass shootings. it seems that the surprise factor would prevent most carriers from getting to their gun in time. i remember a story in the southwest where two people point blank shot and killed two police officers who were dining in a restaurant. both officers were armed, but helpless in that situation. maybe in someone in the restaurant had a gun, they could have shot the perpetrators after the fact, but what if they missed and hit innocent bystanders? plus, in today's reactive and lack-of-self-control society, i wonder if more daily shootings would occur from anger, like the guy (retired sheriff?) who shot and killed another guy for texting during a movie. WTF? if he didn't have a gun, they probably would have had a fist fight, like the old days. or shootings that occur during road rage incidents? anger (part of the mental health problem) has gotten out of control and teaching people (no offense, but esp. men) how to manage it doesn't seem high on any list of priorities in schools, gov't., etc. sad and scary state of affairs.

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