Why We Need Government-Run Universal Socialized Health Insurance
Sunday, February 20th, 2011 at
5:41 pm
A cartoon explanation of why we need a public health insurance option. Now that the health care bill has passed, my friend Andy Lubershane (the animator) has made another video about a topic near and dear to my heart: Climate and Energy. Please check it out here: www.youtube.com Animated by Andy Lubershane. More comics at www.earthlycomics.blogspot.com Note The data in this cartoon is supported by this report: www.ourfuture.org which includes a lot more detail on current proposals for a public option.
medicare is already broke and we are only in year 1 of the bay boomer retirement phase. oh, and your home fire analogy is laughable.. very few people experience a home fire and everyone will need medical care at some point in their life
@TheThaipoo Your last sentence about peoples tax support the Government is correct but the price you pay for being in a stable, civilised well run country (but not perfect) which the US is. The people need to support the administration and funding of that Nation. Ultimately it is the people speaking via the ballet box that ensures some kind of balance in what the government is allowed to spend. The point again about UHC’s it supplies to every citizen a cost effective way of having health care.
Yeah right! And all the money we’ve put in the social security “pool” is still there and being distributed equally. Hmmm and that’s why we need 401k plans to insure our retirement. This is why we owe China trillions of dollars because we distribute the money so equal and everyone here in the U.S all have everything they need, Right?
WRONG! How much money do our “representatives” earn? How much do we earn, after supporting those who can’t support themselves and of course after we pay the governments salary? Wake up people, it is your money that supports the government, it is not the governments money that supports you! Wake up!
@davijeph Here in the US, we have Medicare. It’s a federal government run health care plan that covers those 65 and older. He already admitted that Medicare was constitutional so his argument about states rights is invalid. Hawaii has had a state mandated health care system for 40 years. Obama was born and raised there so that may be why he likes the idea of UHC. I have no problem with private insurance coexisting with UHC. Here in the US, we have Fed Ex and UPS as well as the US post office.
@Mugchgu I should also point out like most countries that run UHC systems we also have an active private heath care system that is used for the most part by the more affluent members of our society. The important thing to remember all citizens are members of the HNS if they have an emergency even those with private insurance would use the NHS system. The one thing I along with every other UK citizen rich or poor have never had to worry about is the cost of medical care simple as that. Regards
@Mugchgu I should also point out like most countries that run UHC systems we also have an active private heath care system that is used for the most part by the more affluent members of our society. The important thing to remember all citizens are members of the NHS if they have an emergency even those with private insurance would use the NHS system. The one thing I along with every other UK citizen rich or poor have never had to worry about is the cost of medical care simple as that. Regards
@Mugchgu Having said that my point I think is still valid UHC means Universal heath care. Universal means not just universal in terms of every citizen but every citizen everywhere. I assume citizens of the US are allowed to move and work in all of the US states to have UHC must mean UHC in every State not just in Alaska. It matters very little how UHC’s are organised by government or private what matters is every citizen is covered by a comprehensive health cover at reasonable cost for all
@Mugchgu The problem for me in any counter argument is of course I’m not a citizen of the US so find it difficult for me to understand that for many Americans there is a big difference between State and Federal Government. I would say that citizen or not I am on the whole a great admirer of the US sitting here in the UK wearing my Rockport shoes, my levi 501’s, my timberland shirt and jacket typing this on my Apple Mac with my small (yes you do make them) US designed car in my Garage.
This is fantastic. I just want there to be affordable health care for all. Some people don’t have the foresight to see its advantages to the society as a whole. They are only concerned about advancing their own petty interests. Freedom? Free? Try to stick with the topic. I will be more free if I am healthy. Some people want to perpetuate meaningless arguments instead of moving forward to create something positive. I think they could use mental health care.
@davijeph His whole strategy is selling the idea that collective strength somehow means less freedom. Once people reject that strength, it is much easier for the very wealthy to use thier monetary power to dominate the public and that’s when people really lose their freedom. The strength of a society is in it’s numbers and authoritarian prinicples fail against that strength, so society must be broken down into individualism in order to be conquered so that a few can rule over the many.
This is fantastic. I just want there to be affordable health care for all. Some people don’t have the foresight to see its advantages to the society as a whole. They are only concerned about advancing their own petty interests. Freedom? Free? Try to stick with the topic. I will be more free if I am healthy. Some people want to perpetuate meaningless arguments instead of moving forward to create something positive. I think they could use mental health care.
@davijeph You’re wasting your time with this weasel. If you make a solid counter argument, he’ll just change the subject and pretend that’s what he was talking about the whole time. He’s obviously and idiot and not worth your time.
You might want to watch out for that. Blatantly misusing a words like “Free” and “Freedom” is probably going to limit how much people listen to and respect your arguments. It would be like arguing that the preamble of the constitution grants the federal government powers. Once you start saying those sorts of things then virtually any educated person is likely to write you off as an idiot.
The actual term would mean that you would be free to decide not to get HC, even if it meant you died. You can certainly argue that HC is necessary, and that therefore government should be allowed to require to have you it, but you can’t say that another entity forcing someone else to do something makes that person “free”. What you are talking about is governmental authority (does the government have the authority necessary for UHC) and citizens rights (do US citizens have a Right to UHC).
Totally false. People that oppose UHC in the US based on the constitutional argument do NOT do so because they believe that the government shouldn’t have a say in HC, but rather because they believe the States are more capable at effectively running such programs. The premise is that the Alaskan legislature is more capable of determining what HC is best for Alaskans, and that Texas is better able to determine what is best for Texans. Secondly, you do not seem to understand the term “freedom”.
@kbonez2 I do not interpret what your constitution means. My point was that in having too interpret a 200 year old document conceived in a totally different world to than we live in now ( the idea of things like UHC’s would have bee an alien concept to those who wrote it ). According to some US citizens who choose to interpret your constitution you are not free to have UHC’s and therefore prefer to have your own citizens die if they cannot afford HC (some freedom).
@kbonez2 If you were directing your initial post at the health care bill, then you would have said “he main argument against THE HEALTH CARE BILL is that it is simply unconstitutional for the Federal Government to act in that arena.” The word ARENA obviously refers anything involving health care.
What you said was “he main argument against GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTH CARE is that it is simply unconstitutional for the Federal Government to act in that arena.” You embarrassed yourself.
@kbonez2 You got caught contradicting yourself and now you’re just trying to back peddle out of it. If you think pushing universal health care isn’t relevant, try to find a poll about “universal health care” that doesn’t show the majority of Americans wanting it. Unconstitutional or not, the health care bill won’t last because it still leaves 20 million uninsured and funnels public money to for-profit health insurance companies. Universal health care is the future and that is very relevant.
@Mugchgu I rest my case.
If you couldn’t understand that the comment was directed at the health care bill then you are even more clueless than your misunderstanding of the constitution would imply. Youtube does not have a long enough word count to explain these issues to you in any meaningful way. Keep pushing universal health care; I’ll go back to living in the reality that currently has a Federal Health Care Bill whose legality is being challenged. My reality seems more relevant right now.
@dhc21atyahoo I didn’t misinterpret anything. If you and kbonez2 want to rant about the health care bill, that’s fine, but this is not the thread for it. This video is not advocating the health care bill. It’s about universal health care.
Jesus man; you do realize that the comments stay up for everyone to go back and read? Mining the quotes and taking a statement out of context doesn’t work unless people can’t read where you got it from. In the same comment you used I said that the question will be whether the CC ” give(s) Congress (the) power to FORCE you to BUY SOMETHING?” (emphasis added for individuals struggling with reading comprehension). The arena being addressed is the constitutionality of REQUIRING commercial activity.
@kbonez2 DAVI and MUG will misinterpret what you type ( I think purposefully) and then bring up something that does not pertain to the topic. The only thing that matters is that ONE judge declared Obamacare as UNCONSTITUTIONAL and so it makes Obamacare something that exists outside of what is lawful. Universal HC is UNLAWFUL in the USA. End of discussion.
@kbonez2 Medicare is government run health care. Universal health care is just Medicare that covers everyone instead of just people over 65. Got it?