Clinton's & Obama's Universal Health Care Plans

I think the problem here is that there isn't a plan that makes EVERYONE happy....those who feel they would benefit from UHC are for it, those who are doing fine without it don't want it.

IMHO there has to be a solution that is middle of the road, it may not be ideal for everyone but it has to get better for everyone as a whole. I don't mean in the sense that some pay for all, but it in the sense that healthcare is more affordable and accessible for more people.

The way Rod has explained it, which is pretty simple, basically a GIANT group plan you can choose to join or not, sounds pretty fair to me. If it would mean more people could have coverage, instead of being treated and never paying their bill, healthcare costs would come down. More people in a group means better premiums. Regulating costs would mean healthcare industries could afford to lower costs and still maintain decent profits.

I readily admit I'm not a political insider but that doesn't mean I'm an idiot. I know it's not a simple solution but it doesn't have to be such a me vs them scenario either. Especially if what we already pay in taxes was used better as far as healthcare goes....I know we can't eliminate Medicaid/care but if it was more streamlined so that more people were able to afford and pay for their coverage, wouldn't that mean fewer on Medicare and therefore not such a huge difference in taxes? Maybe I'm a dreamer, but I'd love to see something done that allows your average American to have a healthplan.

I was thinking that too - I admit I don't know much about it but I've always thought about it as being a pretty bad idea. The way Dh talks about it it's one step closer to communism. The way Rod talks about it, it doesn't seem so bad... maybe even a good thing. I just don't know - and Dh and I are in the group that would most definitely benefit from it. Our income is pretty low compared to most people's standards (One income family - Dh made a little over 35,000 last year). Dh has insurance through his employer, but it sucks. We pay a lot for it and don't get very good coverage - so lower premiums and better coverage sounds great to me. But I honestly don't know enough about UHC to know if it's a good solution or not.

Crystal, what program is this?

Its called LaHIPP.

Louisiana Health Insurance Premium Program.

http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/offices/?ID=148

I agree with you Brenda, you did a better job of saying what I have been trying to say all along.

I tend to vote more along the Republican lines because their views tend to fall more in line with my beliefs and philosophies. However, I am trying to keep an open mind and educate myself on the issues before making a decision. I have always been an opponent of UHC, but these plans are not what I think of as UHC. The problem is that the plans are all so vague. They use terms like "affordable", "a mandate" and "not to exceed a specific percentage of your income". I want details on how it is going to work and how they plan to finance it before I elect someone to office, not afterwards. Hillary said if she was elected as a Senator for NY she had a plan to increase jobs, and now they are running at a 30,000 deficit in jobs. People elected her and bought into her "big picture", I won't do that, I want details and then I can draw the conclusion myself.

Good post.


It amazes me how people think that people who would benefit from this don't pay taxes. If you read my post where I described why it would benefit me you will know that there are many people (just like me) that pay out the &%# in taxes and still have trouble paying insurance. On paper we make alot of money but there are many more expenses that we have. We not only pay taxes in our state but every single state our trucks travel. We are taxed to death! I just wish people would realize that not everyone who would benefit from UHC are lazy bums who spit out kids and watch Oprah all day.

This is a big sticking point with me....DH and I both had GREAT salaries, on paper we looked like we should have plenty of cash...but at the end of the day, our company paid taxes, we paid payroll taxes out of our paychecks, and then we personally got taxed on our company's profit for the year. It almost feels like you can't win, the more money we made the more taxes came out, I understand why it works that way but it wasn't like we could just pay ourselves more and change our bottom line

I think I especially disagree with the argument that others don't want to have to pay for everyone else because lets face it, we already do that with our taxes....and on top of that, even your insurance premiums pay for the care of others. If you pay your premiums for 20 years and never use anything other than the average medical care, where do you think the rest of your money goes....to pay for those who need more serious or costly care and have paid the same premiums as you but require more payout from the insurance company

(That wasn't directed personally at anyone, just why I don't understand that mindset )

I'm totally with you on this one, Monica. But I think people get a certain idea stuck in their heads, probably because there are many, many industry insiders working tirelessly to make that happen, and it's hard to undo it after awhile, kwim? I don't want my taxes to go up, who does, but I do want the gov't to spend my money more fairly and wisely. And everyone seems to forget, as you pointed out, that we are ALREADY paying for the uninsured with those $10 tylenols.