Americans will be forced to buy health insurance under Obama's plan?

steveinba said:
Really? And do you think someone who has no money and a $100,000 bill for an emergency surgery has a choice to pay? That person will never pay more than a small fraction of the bill and it happens all the time. What are the "serious consequences?" Is the hospital going to break your kneecaps? Kill your children?

More likely just damage your credit score and send bill collectors after you. Big deal. Millions of people declare bankruptcy in American each year and the number one reason is medical expenses. That is a fact.

Its a very sad indictment of society that something as basic as human health should be so commercialised for the profit of some . A society that does not care for the health of the other or does not provide emergency medicine is a sick society.

100 percent cover for all Socialised medicine should be affordable and taxed accordingly and any emergencies that threaten life must be treated free of charge.

When I hear of stories of US 100 thousand dollars for life saving surgeries I cringe in disbelief . To me it goes against human values and human life to create tremendous capitalism out of human suffering.
 
Pericles, it's a different system in the United States than in Argentina, Australia, or Greece. At least one observation is not accurate:

pericles said:
. . . . A society that . . . does not provide emergency medicine is a sick society.
Every town of any size in the United States, even many a village, offers emergency medicine. The very poor, the well-insured, and the dishonest don't pay for it.

pericles said:
100 percent cover for all Socialised medicine should be affordable . . . .
Precisely the point, Pericles: the United States claim not to have socialized medicine. In fact, however, medical care in the United States is socialized, though only for the poor (through "Medicaid" and various state and local programs) and the old (through "Medicare"). Some people achieve the same result to their finances through use or abuse of emergency services. Only the remainder, still the majority of the citizenry, make any significant payments.
 
bigbadwolf said:
Like others, I never had much hope invested in this nincompoop (Obama). I have absoluely none at this stage.

Hey that nincompoop is my President. Just say "Hope and Change" and you will realize the real nincompoops are the ones that believe and follow him blindly.
 
Cheney said:
Hey that nincompoop is my President.

Americans would do well to be more like Europeans and stop putting their elected politicians on a pedestal. Here is an article extolling Joe Wilson for calling Obama the worthless lying sleazebag he really is:

One of the big problems with American democracy is that the presidency has over the years been elevated to the level of a monarchy, with all the imperial trappings and pomposity formerly associated with royalty. Presidents surely should get no more respect than a prime minister, and look at the hoots and catcalls PMs have to endure when they address Parliament in the UK. That's a good thing.

Anyhow, it would have been far better if, instead of clapping wildly, liberal Democrats in Congress had hooted down some of the other whoppers and stretchers told by the president in his health care address.

Whack-job or not, Rep. Wilson did the cause of democracy and honest discourse a favor when, faced with a statement he felt was clearly false, he found he couldn't repress the urge to call the president a "liar." In doing so, he put a much-needed ding in the wholly inappropriate and dangerous imperial aura of "respect" that has grown like lichens around the office of President. No more than anyone else in this nation, a president should have to earn the respect not just of the members of Congress, but of the broader public. He or she is another citizen, no more and no less, and when a president, like President Obama in this instance, dissembles, exaggerates or attempts to deceive or mislead, it is healthy for democracy if he is called out on it immediately and publicly.

We need more honesty in Washington, not more civility.
 
Paul Craig Roberts' latest essay:

[SIZE=-1]
The reason there is a health care crisis in the US is that the cumulative loss of jobs and benefits has swollen the uninsured to approximately 50 million Americans. They cannot afford health insurance any more than employers can afford to provide it. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]It is absurd to mandate that people purchase what they cannot afford and to fine them for failing to do so. A person who cannot pay a health insurance premium cannot pay the fine. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]These proposals are like solving the homeless problem by requiring the homeless to purchase a house. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]In his speech Obama said “we’ll provide tax credits” for “those individuals and small businesses who still can’t afford the lower-priced insurance available in the exchange” and he said low-cost coverage will be offered to those with preexisting medical conditions. A tax credit is useless to those without income unless the credit is refundable, and subsidized coverage doesn’t do much for those millions of Americans with no jobs.
[/SIZE]
 
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