Is free health care REALLY free?

Discussion in 'Budget & Taxes' started by Buckshot, Mar 16, 2016.

  1. Phyxius

    Phyxius Well-Known Member

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    Wrong question - whether due to ignorance or cynical ideology remains to be seen.

    The right questions are whether single-payer healthcare is cheaper and does it provide better outcomes than the private insurance based system we have now?
     
  2. JoakimFlorence

    JoakimFlorence Banned

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    Yeah, the premiums are so high the family would not have any money left over to be able to afford the copayments. What's the point of having it then?
     
  3. Vegas giants

    Vegas giants Banned

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    Because dying is even more expensive
     
  4. Ndividual

    Ndividual Well-Known Member

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    It IS only if you're paying nothing. The cost is absorbed by those who are paying more than the cost of the care they're receiving.

    "From each according to their income, to each according to their need."
     
  5. Zawiya

    Zawiya New Member

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    Of course it's not 'free.' No service the government provides is 'free.' The government does not simply collect money from the money tree, and then use it to pay for your medicine and treatment. It is, of course, payed through taxes and other such mechanisms in which your money goes to the government. Murray Rothbard said: 'The state is an institution of theft.' It is an interesting quote to observe in this context. On the one hand, the government can forcibly take your money and squander it in the most horrific way. On the other, the government can also hugely improve societies through institutions like public schools and hospitals. In short, free healthcare isn't free at all.
     
  6. Ndividual

    Ndividual Well-Known Member

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    What's the current cost of dying?
     
  7. lynnlynn

    lynnlynn New Member

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    If you die at home, then really nothing. However, if you die in a hospital, then that is a different story.
     
  8. Vegas giants

    Vegas giants Banned

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    What would you spend to stay alive? I think you would come up with a high number indeed.

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    You would spend everything you have to stay alive. That's how valuable life is.
     
  9. Ndividual

    Ndividual Well-Known Member

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    If I die in a hospital just send the bill to me at the crematory.
     
  10. Ndividual

    Ndividual Well-Known Member

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    So we agree the cost of living IS greater than the cost of dying.

    In keeping with the OP, what would you be willing to spend to keep me alive? Would you still come up with a high number indeed?
     
  11. Vegas giants

    Vegas giants Banned

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    I would be willing to spend whatever is necessary to keep you alive from taxpayer money as is currently the law if you are on Medicaid or medicare. I want that same system expanded to everyone
     
  12. Ndividual

    Ndividual Well-Known Member

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    Although you didn't answer the question I asked, you have provided a clear elaboration of the problem created by "Free Health Care" or for that matter most anything government provides individuals at no cost to them.

    Thank you.
     
  13. Vegas giants

    Vegas giants Banned

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    I answered the question directly and clearly. If you are sick there is no cost to high to pay to make you better. This is the exact reason why the government should run healthcare. Take profit out of it and make it about saving lives....at any cost
     
  14. Ndividual

    Ndividual Well-Known Member

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    No, I asked YOU would be willing to spend and you answered with what you are willing to allow government to spend. Perhaps you should recognize that the attitude of "no cost is too high to pay" has been the major contributor to the rising cost of health care. And that is the reason government should have never become involved at all in healthcare.
     
  15. Vegas giants

    Vegas giants Banned

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    There is no better tax dollar ever spent than one that saves the life of a person. This is the reason government should run healthcare
     
  16. Ndividual

    Ndividual Well-Known Member

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    That would be true ONLY if every person provided equal value to the society which was paying the bill AND the total costs were outweighed by the benefits being provided by the expenditures.

    And again, this is the reason government should NOT run healthcare.
     
  17. Vegas giants

    Vegas giants Banned

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    Every person is equal in the eyes of the law and all have the same value. This is the problem with for profit healthcare....it treats the poor man as less worthy of living than the rich man. This is why the government should run healthcare
     
  18. Ndividual

    Ndividual Well-Known Member

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    That's a somewhat extreme interpretation of how government should be applied to the word equal. It is not governments function to provide equal outcomes to all individuals by providing their needs or wants. Since the early 20th century we have increasingly allowed our government to live beyond our means, currently more than $19 trillion and growing. And that is another reason government should NOT run healthcare.

    Healthcare should be provided within the means of the recipient, including any free choice charitable assistance provided from members of our societies.

    I suppose I should write you off as part of the problem as you clearly propose no solutions other than to grow the problem.
     
  19. Vegas giants

    Vegas giants Banned

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    No .....healthcare should be as basic a right as primary education. As I said no tax dollar was better spent than one that saves a life. Cut the carrier battle groups in half, we will still have twice as many as any country on earth, and that should save a few bucks
     
  20. Ndividual

    Ndividual Well-Known Member

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    Obviously we can only agree that we disagree.
     
  21. Vegas giants

    Vegas giants Banned

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    Agreed
     
  22. lynnlynn

    lynnlynn New Member

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    That really depends on what your medical status is. If you diagnosed with cancer and you are in your 80's, should society provide measures so you can live an extra day?
     
  23. lynnlynn

    lynnlynn New Member

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    What if that person chose unhealthy life styles that created the circumstance for that person's current health status? Would you still feel that tax payers should foot the bill?
     
  24. Vegas giants

    Vegas giants Banned

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    Yes. Society should

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    We do not currently hold people to that standard and we should not start
     
  25. Ndividual

    Ndividual Well-Known Member

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    The problem is that 'society' is not being given the choice, government is making the choice.
     

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