Reply With QuoteMassachesetts will become a Mecca for chronically ill people. I wonder if they have thought about that.
BOSTON - Lawmakers on Wednesday took a step toward making Massachusetts the first state to make comprehensive and affordable health care a cons utionally protected right.
The proposed amendment to the state's cons ution was approved during a joint session of the House and Senate. If approved a second time during the 2005-2006 legislative session, the question will go before voters in 2006.
The amendment states that "it shall be the obligation and duty of the Legislature and executive officials ... to enact and implement such laws as will ensure that no Massachusetts resident lack comprehensive, affordable and equitably financed health insurance coverage for all medically necessary preventive, acute and chronic health care and mental health care services, prescription drugs and devices."
"We're trying to provide justice in health care so that every single citizen has a health care plan," said Sen. Steven Tolman, D-Boston.
The proposed amendment was initiated when more than 70,000 registered voters signed a pe ion. As a result, only 51 of the 200 state representatives and senators need support the proposal for it to go before voters.
The vote Wednesday was overwhelming, with lawmakers approving it 153-41.
Supporters argue that the cost of providing universal coverage through a variety of public and private means could be made up by eliminating billions of dollars in unnecessary costs currently built into the state's health care system.
The National Federation for Independent Business said the price tag of providing health care to all citizens would be immense.
Comcast (news?)
Massachesetts will become a Mecca for chronically ill people. I wonder if they have thought about that.
Unless they put limits on expensive medicine, I don't see how it is going to work.
Now that is FUNK'D up.
Let the haj begin.
Massachusetts??? What a coincidence! The "K" brothers strike again!
Isn't it already a Mecca for the mentally ill?"Massachesetts will become a Mecca for chronically ill people."
ha, i can 't wait to see how the plan on affording that.
Okay, now I am gonna have a cow! Manny met a social program that gives him pause?
Ted Kennedy/ John Kerry had something to do with this decision? Gee how was that?Massachusetts??? What a coincidence! The "K" brothers strike again!
A few other minor points....I know I can't prove to you that Universal Healthcare is best handled by the government so I am not going to try.
You guys seem to fail to recognize that a simple residency restriction, would prevent freeloaders.
Has anyone ever thought that the right to life liberty and the persuit of hapiness might include the right to a healthy life? I certainly do.
USAtodayPoll: Public supports health care for all
WASHINGTON (AP) — The public's growing unease with the current health care system has built support for a new approach that would mean care for all Americans and changes in laws governing prescription drugs, a poll suggests.
A sizable majority, 70%, said it should be legal for Americans to buy prescription drugs outside the United States, according to the ABC News-Washington Post poll. One in eight respondents said they or someone in their home has done just that. Such purchases can save money but they violate the law.
The poll released Sunday found that more than half of Americans, 54%, are dissatisfied with the overall quality of health care in the United States while 44% are satisfied. That dissatisfaction is 10 percentage points higher than in 2000 and higher than it has been in the past decade when compared with earlier surveys.
While a solid majority of people tended to be happy with their own quality of health care, the poll found "significant concern with the system more broadly," said ABC pollster Gary Langer, who directed the extensive survey.
Those concerns included worries about future costs, declining coverage and the problems of people who lack insurance.
The poll found that six in 10 people surveyed say they are worried about being able to afford health insurance in the future. More than one in six said they have no insurance. The government says there were 43.6 million uninsured U.S. residents at some point during 2002, accounting for 15.2% of the population.
The poll found that 53% of those who are insured say they are worried about losing their insurance because of loss of a job. The percentage of those who have health insurance and are satisfied with the cost, 64%, has dropped by 9 percentage points since 1997.
By almost a 2-1 margin in this poll, 62% to 32%, Americans said they preferred a universal system that would provide coverage to everyone under a government program, as opposed to the current employer-based system.
...
Among the poll's other findings:
• Eight in 10 in the poll said it is more important to provide health care coverage for all Americans even if it means higher taxes, than to hold down taxes but leave some people uncovered.
• Almost two-thirds said they think the country is headed toward rationing of health care so that some medical procedures are no longer covered by insurance.
• Almost one-third of those who make less than $20,000 a year were uninsured, compared with 8% of those who make more than $50,000 a year.
The poll of 1,000 adults was taken Oct. 9-13 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
"Ted Kennedy/ John Kerry had something to do with this decision? Gee how was that?" .........Influence...my dear Mr. Watson.....Influence!
That would be Dr. Watson to you.....
i know you say that in jest yoni, but quite seriously i don't know why you think i dig social programs. quite on the contrary i am against most, and that is where i lean greatly torwards my libertarian roots.
it's in the corporate/business sector where i advocate more goverment involvement as a watchdog, but not nessecarily as is being done now.
btw, those poll numbers mean jack to me, and i'll tell you why. [you can use this for a lot of polls, in my opinion]
the health care crisis is one that is largely made up by politicians as a way of gaining votes. look at me, look at me i'm cantidate a and this is how i am going to solve this problem for you better than cantidate b. no no, look at me, i'm cantidate b and this is how i plan to solve the problem for you better than cantidate a.
it's an artificial problem created by politicians, and played up by the media. it's not the first, and won't be the last. the truth is that there is no healthcare crisis in america. if you need healthcare, you can get it. that doesn't mean i should foot the bill, or the rest of the taxpayers.
i agree in medicaid and medicare programs, and programs such as chips, but the reality is that people want to be overinsured. i sold health insurance in the past, and i know this for a fact. people want to have cheap health insurance that over insures them and they don't want to take on any liablity.
I completely disagree Manny....I don't think you can just pass off a poll because you think politicians are trying to instill it as a fear into Americans....Partially because its a real problem. Partially because there are no candidates even in the dem party who run off of Universal Healthcare. (Dennis Kucinich aside.)
The government says there were 43.6 million uninsured U.S. residents at some point during 2002, accounting for 15.2% of the population.
big deal, once again, not having insurance does not mean you don't get health care, it simply means you will get a bill.
Did you read the article a few days ago that says that people without insurance get their prices jacked up because they don't have someone bartering lower prices for them? So not only do you get a bill you get a bill thats higher than everyone else.
that's a totally different issue.
politicians andpeople who love to spout off about the healthcare crisis love to make people believe that unless we save these people, they are being denied health care.
that is not the case. anyone can go down to university hospital and the like and regardless of your insurance situation you will recieve care.
there are insurance policiys out there which cover 80 percent of any hospital vists, but don't cover doctors visits. they are extremely cheap and provide you with lots of protection in case you have to have major health care.
however, people want to be able to go to the doctor everytime they find a booger in their nose, and don't want to pay the 400 dollar amonth premiums that are the norm for polcies which cover that. on top of that,they want the goverment to save them if they can't afford that.
everyone should have access to healthcare, and they do.
I guess my best retort for you Manny is that none of that addresses the fact that people aren't satisfied with the healthcare as it stands. Nor does it argue with how demanding that a not for profit insurance system would not be a better if not just as viable a system. And then my argument to you is that as the wealthiest civilization in the world we have the moral and ethical obligation to make healthcare equally accessible to the rich and the poor.
If its even possible to provide Universal Healthcare (which if we look at those countries that already have it we can see that it is indeed possible.) we have a moral responsibility to persue such a noble goal.
heh, you let me know when the most efficient healthcare system is a non profit one.
Is losing some efficiency a really bad thing if it garuntees equal healthcare for everyone? I mean I wouldn't mind waiting 3 months for a dentist appointment if it means homeless kids can get the same dental care that I can ( I already have to wait for a month.) I really think its a sacrifice that can be made especially if the triage type system ins uted involves a selfchecking system for abuses.
Do you have a link to one of those $400/month policies?
Americansfor HealthcareThe Uninsured
More than 74 million Americans were uninsured for all or part of 2001-2002 -- that’s nearly one-third of all Americans under age 65. Because the cost of health care keeps rising out of control, being uninsured can happen to any of us. And when it does happen, it means our families are more likley to either forego needed medical care, or experience severe financial hardship trying to afford it.
Fact: 41.2 million Americans were without health insurance for all of last year.1
Fact: Another 34 million were without of insurance for part of the last two years.2
:shock Fact: More than 7 out of 10 uninsured have a full-time worker at home.3
:shock Fact: The uninsured have 25 percent higher mortality rates, and are more likely to die at a younger age.4
:shock Fact: After job loss, being uninsured and getting sick is the most common reason people file bankruptcy.5
1 U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2002 Annual Demographic Supplements.
2 Families USA "Going Without Health Insurance" March 5, 2002.
3 KFF state health facts.
4 Ins ute of Medicine, Care Without Coverage, 2002.
5 "Rethinking the Debates over Health Care Financing: Evidence from the Bankruptcy Courts," with Jacoby and Sullivan 176 NYU Law Review (2001).
That is what I don't understand.
If anyone can go to University Hospital regardless of your insurance...then why shouldn't I just go and get free health care?
spurster, if you are looking for affordable health insurance, i can put you in contact with a few people.
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