[marilynmom]

I do not have health insurance because I can't afford it. My husband is covered for "free" though his work and both my children have health insurance but we simply can not afford it for me....it would cost $300 more a month for me to be insured!! WHERE oh WHERE would I get that kind of money?!

I certainly do not choose to not be covered.

Marilyn

[prunepie]

i am an example of one of the uninsured who is neither rich nor poor.. i am in the middle according to the government therefore lies the catch 22.

i once went totry to get state health insurance about 5 years ago..i was told if i own a car worth more than 5 thousand dollars an or have more than 3 thousand in the bank i am ineligeable for state help..so go get a job that has insurance..unless i get pregnant..then they would help...grr

at that time the only jobs i were qualified for were literally waitresses or starbucks etcetc... okay might get insurance..but at 8 bucks an hour..how do i pay for rent?? and car payments??

so there are alot of people who want insurance but cant get it.

i also tried for individual coverage and was denied repeatedly due to pre existings... seriously i have a friend how who is 21 ..thin.. no health probs but migraines and was denied as well... she is a lucky one though..she is married and her hubby has family coverage.

i now have kaiser... andi dont want to go bashing bc there might be people here who work for them..but it is an hmo.... and i do get coverage for emergencies and routine help..but i still pay out of pocket for an md who is a specialist in my pre existings..

its a sad world when to get help you literally need to be destitute to get help.

xo jenn

[southern rn]

In my opinion many of the uninsured are the "working poor" who have health insurance available thru their employers but cannot afford to pay for the insurance and still eat and pay rent. My BIL is a prime example. Single, recently divorced, did not take health insurance at his construction job cause it left to little take home pay. At the age of 37 he had a large anterior mi and has thousands of dollars worth of hospital bills he will never be able to pay. Now unemployed, unemployment benefits soon run out, etc. Bad situation. It can and does happen everday, people in minimum wage or mediocre jobs can't pay for health insurance and still survive, the ones being covered are the welfare recipiants or pregnant unwed moms.

[Fuzzy]

I'm not insured because I'm considered uninsurable by most insurance companies because of pre-existing conditions. I can get on the state insurance plan for big $$$$$ but my paycheck won't let me. I could go on disability but I'd rather work and be a taxpayer. So I'm not insured...just between a rock and a hard place.

[kitkat24]

I pay 30% of my net income to pay for insurance for myself and my two sons. I am willing to pay it. When people say, I can't afford it, what they really are saying is that they choose not to spend their money on it. I have chosen to spend my money on it.

[kitkat24]

Fergus,
If people hold left-wing liberal views than they should be proud and wear it like a medal. The most respect that I had for a nurse friend is when she said, "I am practically a socialist, so I don't agree with you." I thought, well good at least she admits that. I can respect that. However, when people believe all the same things that liberals believe and then deny that they in fact, are liberals it is confusing. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. I admit proudly that I am a conservative. I hold conservative viewpoints. And, although most posters here are against most of what I say, I still believe in conservative values and principles. In respect to Universal healthcare, I wanted to find out more and research more before I made a decision.

I have posted many fact finders on Canadian healthcare about waiting on average median of 26 weeks for a total knee replacement for instance. We don't wait that long in the US currently even under our HMO's.

So, once I do find information that is significant it is hard to debate statistics and that information. Breast cancer survival rates for instance are significantly lower in Canada then in the US. Why is that? Waits for "elective" mastectomies? Waits for mammography? Wait too long the cancer spreads and death is the result.

Kitkat

[kitkat24]

Now, that I do understand is problematic. People with disabilities who could collect SSI and government assistance, but who would prefer to work should have an exception made and pro-rated care of some kind.
kitkat
*I admit that I have a bias for persons with disabilities and the situations they find themselves in sometimes.*

[VivaLasViejas]

kitkat, you really ought to try spending 30% of $14,000/yr. (the approximate annual income of someone making seven or eight bucks an hour) and see how far it goes. Sure you can afford health insurance.......as long as you don't buy food, pay rent and utilities, or put clothes on your kids' backs.

[kitkat24]

If I were a Canadian, for my taxes if I made $45,000.00 per year, I'd pay 50% of that to taxes.

[roxannekkb]

Originally posted by kitkat24
I pay 30% of my net income to pay for insurance for myself and my two sons. I am willing to pay it. When people say, I can't afford it, what they really are saying is that they choose not to spend their money on it. I have chosen to spend my money on it.

Yes, some people do not want to spend money on it. I agree. But others really can't afford it, and you don't seem to understand that. They would have to choose between paying their rent or health insurance. Or not having carfare to get to work. Or not having food on the table, or paying for prescription medicine for their elderly father who lives with them (not covered by Medicare). Or heat during the winter. A million more things more pressing than health insurance.

There are a great many people caught in the middle. Too rich for medicaid, too poor to pay out of pocket.

But in your view, I guess they're just pretending that they don't have the money. I bet that they're using that hidden cash to fly to Paris on the weekend, or buy $150 bottles of champagne to serve with their caviar.