How can America let this happen?

I don't know our "welfare" is a little hard to explain. There's like a federal poverty level and then the states figure out what the cut off is for whether or not you qualify for the services offered. Some of these people may have had actual medical insurance but not dental and optical. We do not have dental and optical and our medical only kicks in after we spend $10,000 first.

I live in Massachusetts, the first state to mandate that everyone have health insurance. It's now easier in my state to qualify for medicaid, and there is various incentive & penalties to business to provide insurance. The biggest problem (as I see it) is that small businesses & the self-employed can't afford private insurance. We have a variety of good programs to help the poor, and people employed by larger companies have access to the insurance offered through their jobs.

Because there is no "free" medical insurance system in the US. You have to pay for it unless you are young (like a child), pregnant, or old (I think over 65). So millions of people who are "working poor" can't afford to pay $500+dollars a month for family coverage. When we are uninsured it is usually cheaper to just pay for the Dr than to carry coverage, even if going to urgent care costs $100+ medicine.

We don't have health insurance coverage like most civilized countries do. Here in the U.S., we pay for our own insurance. If you are employed, some employers pay a part of it, but most people have to pay for their own. Of course, if you have health problems, you will find it very hard to get coverage; it will either be a lot more than you can pay, or the insurance companies won't cover you at all. This is especially true if you have had cancer. The insurance companies call that a "pre-existing condition." You would think that Americans would be delighted to help their fellow man out by making sure everyone in this country has health care. Unfortunately, that is not true. A lot of citizens think of that as "socialism." A lot are afraid that their taxes will go up. We really are a selfish bunch in this country, and our leaders for the last eight years revel in it. That is why I will be voting for Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton wanted to make sure all Americans had health insurance, too. I supported her in the beginning, but since Obama won the nomination, I am supporting him. I worked at Social Services and saw many, many people who could not afford basic health care. For the most part, children are covered; but if you are over 21, or between 21 and 65, there is no government program to help you. It's really a shame and disgrace.

I live in Canada and the provinces provide universal health care here. I am one of its biggest critics, but the American system is worse. Even if you are insured, the HMO can deny you treatment if they think it unnecessary or too expensive. Also you can have a cap on how much they cover, so if you go over you are not insured. Pre existing conditions can disquailify you. America has the highest cost of GDP I think it is around 16% and other first world countries the highest is 11% and others less. While America has some of the best medical procedures, access can be difficult for a medium income subclass that is already sick but too "rich" for medicaid but too poor to afford health care premiums. Apparently there are 16 million Americans uninsured for even basic services. America already has a socialist medical system in their medicare, it just does not cover everyone. I am constantly surprised at the resistance of Americans against expanding this system to everyone.

Unfortunately, adequate healthcare is very expensive in the US. Even the healthcare through my school was a ridiculous amount of money, and it is not a very good plan. If I had a job that offered good benefits, it would be a lot easier, but most lower-middle class people don't have jobs with good benefits. Without benefits from a job, a good health insurance is going to cost at least $200 a month. This is unfortunately not a price all of us are willing to pay, especially when we don't even have major medical problems. I have very cheap health insurance that costs me about 50 dollars a month. It has a $1,000 deductible lol. But the average cost of a trip to the Emergency Room is around $3,000, and that is if you aren't staying overnight. The average cost of a doctors visit is over $100. I don't know, it is just so ridiculous to me why it should cost that much to talk to a doctor for 10 minutes. Healthcare in America is really effed up. All of the hospitals are for-profit now and want all the money they can get. It really baffles me. Healthcare was actually one of the main reasons I voted for Obama over Barr. Immigration was another.

here in australia, every citizens or permanent residents got a medical aid from government which is called medicare... it is a government funded institution and it helps to subsidise our medical fees to a certain percentage depending on which doctor you go... specialist like eye and dentist are not covered by them... that's why we also have to have private health insurance to cover for those services... i and my hubby are using medibank private here as our private health insurance... take care and have a nice day...

This post makes me feel lucky to be born in a country where the health service is free. We can get mostly of the health services free of charge at the national hospital. Sometimes there is a waiting list for operations but at least the service is good. © ronaldinu 2008

There are several reasons why so many Americans do not have health insurance. One of the biggest ones is the cost factor. Health insurance - at least good or worthy health insurance - is very expensive and there are a lot of people who cannot afford it. Unfortunately my family falls into this. We make too much money for low cost programs, medicaid, chips, etc; but at the same time we do not make enough to be able to purchase health insurance. We are considered self employed and our employer - we drive a truck and are owner operators (we own our own truck) and are leased to a company - does not provide health insurance to independent contractors. Another big reason for the lack of insurance in so many American families is Pre-existing conditions. We also fall into this category as well (as if one was not enough, LOL). Both of our children, and myself have pre-existing conditions. I have high blood pressure, our son is a cancer patient - he had AML leukemia when he was 4, he is in remission for 3 years now and well on the way to being considered cancer free, but he will always be a cancer patient to the insurance companies and the medical field. Our daughter had HUS when she was 5 - it is caused by mis-treating an ecolli infection. Her doctor (at the time...NOT NOW!!) prescribed a high powered antibiotic without running tests to find out what was wrong. This killed the bacteria, but caused it to release a toxin that caused her kidneys to shut down and also destroy her red blood cells. She was on dialysis for a while with her kidneys completely shut down. She is fine now, and only has high blood pressure to show for it ( this is a common residual effect of HUS), but it is considered a pre-existing condition. I have checked into getting health insurance on them (and myself as well) several times. Each time I have been told that I could probably get insurance on myself, but not on them. I should not worry about getting insurance on them - THE INSURANCE COMPANIES ACTUALLY TOLD ME THIS!! And not just one company, but several different ones. This makes it very hard for many families to get health insurance. There are probably many other reasons as well - letting the insurance companies charge what they want, not regulating the industry, etc, but these - at least in my opinion - are the biggest ones. I am not saying that it is right - because it certainly isn't - but that is the way it is. We really need to repair our failing healthcare system.

Of the people who "have no healthcare", many who are eligable for public free or low cost services, many do not apply. Many more are not aware of the programs many hospitals offer, such as the one in my town, you fill out some forms, poof, free medical care at the hospital and doctors offices, and it is the same service people with money get, there is no difference in what is covered. Medicaid, mostly for kids, covers medical, optical and dental as does SCHIP. There is a common myth touted out there that there are "47 million americans who do not get health care". This is a fallicy. The truth is there are 47 million humans on american soil who do not have health insurance. Of this 47 million, at least 12 million aren't even U.S. citizens. Millions more are young and can easily afford it as offered through their employer, but choose not to. A few million more are pretty well off and just choose to pay out of pocket. A few million more are eligable for medicaid or SCHIP and do not ever apply. Many states have state level programs to cover hospital bills either in partiality or totality, many people just aren't aware they exist.

Private insurance is very expensive for people who are older or who have medical problems. The monthly premiums are high and usually the deductable is high and has to be satisfied before the insurance company starts paying. I have company provided insurance which costs me $12 per month for a family plan with a $100 per person deductable. Buying the same policy myself, at my and my husband's ages, would cost about $500 per month with a much higher deductable.

well i live in maryland, and we had to go along time without insurance, due i was out on disablty. and my wife job at the time did have health insurance. even after she lost her job due becoming disdable as well. us trying to health insurance through the state was hard. for us to even get it we had to come close loosing everything we have even our house. health insurance is so high it's unreal. i know people who can't afford at work. yeah it's sad in the country that is suppose to be so rich, can;t help thier own. its all about money. even with us now being on disablty and we have medicare that pays for most but still it's hard to keep up with that too, with our med plan we have to pay. we are back up on paying that just because time we pay all our bills we can;t pay it.

Okay, health insurance here in America is a bit different than that of countries like Canada and Australia. Here you pay a premium every month for health insurance either through your employer or you find one on your own. In some cases, those in the lower income brackets with children, the elderly or disabled can qualify for Medicaid which is a free/low premium insurance funded by the government. Just because you are an American citizen does not guarantee you to Medical care or insurance. My husband pays $203 a week for our health insurance for 2 adults and 6 children, this is actually a good price comparatively. We also have co-pays of $20 a visit and $50 per ER visit. Yealy deductibles are set at $600 before the insuarance company will begin paying the bills.

Well, people need to go to the root of the problem. Now the problem is people are not eligible for health insurance. So, tell me, what are this health insurances for? Of course, it is the American's way to foot their medical bill if something really harsh happens to them health wise. So the issue is then of the price of service from the doctors. Just like what you have mentioned, doctors would be more than happy to treat patients as long as it helps people. But, why are they charging high prices then? It is because they need to defend themselves from lawsuits. In America, many doctors are facing lawsuits from patients who accuse them of negligence. If this doctors loses money and possible their right to practice because of little little accidents (which might not even be their fault), it really hurts the profession. Thus, the way they defend the profession? charging higher prices! Since people can't foot high prices, then came the insurance with crazy premiums and requirements. How about this, why don't you Americans start saving up money, use that money to foot your own medical bill, instead of getting insurance. Asians use that method a lot. They try their best to avoid insurances. :) All the best

I'm curious about the doctor who said he was grateful to be able to do proper medicine to help people without money getting in the way? What exactly stops him from giving an hour of his day to treat patients for free at his office? How exactly does the presence of television cameras cut down on his cost of treating patients? The last time I went to a doctor, I sat in his waiting for an hour past the time of my appointment because he was overbooked. He charged me $200 for a 30 minute examine in which his only expense was his time. And he ordered another $1,500 in tests to be done the next week. I didn't bother to show up for the next round of tests because what I got for the $200 was "You seem fine but we'll do some tests to be sure." There's your high cost of health care.

My state has a program that my kids are eligible for. My daughter automatically because of disability. In two years she will go from being eligible for medicaid to medicare. However, for me to be eligible I can't make over $200 a month. I just went to the doctor this last Monday and had to pay cash. I've avoided going for the past two years by making appointments saying I need my medication and never actually going. The meds get called into the pharmacy. Anyway I went and told them to do whatever was necessary for me to get my script. I'm sure I could use a complete physical, but I can't afford it. The nurse practitioner I saw wants to see me back, but she knows my situation so I'm suppose to call her with my BP reading in 4 weeks to see if my hypertension meds are working appropriately. You mentioned teeth. My oldest daughter got medicaid braces. Some may say braces are a luxury, but in my daughter's case she had a tooth growing on the palate of her mouth. Now they don't provide for braces no matter what. Toothless adults who can't afford to pay for their dentures, stay toothless.

i live in other country....i dont wats happening in america.....sry 4 dat

This is sad. But to answer your questions...in order to qualify for any public aide they do look at your income which is good and bad. Because if someone who earns a meager income may qualify for aide, but the moment (and I mean the moment) they go over that amount they either have it taken away or have to pay more for it. Which I think is wrong they should give people a certain amount of time if they are getting on their feet. And sometimes even if you have insurance you may not be able to afford what you pay out of pocket. Like I have a really good dental insurance plan, but many times I cannot afford my part that I have to pay. So it's kinda a catch 22. But I am not a supporter of Universal Healthcare. I know people who use the medical card for their kids and the choices they have for doctors who accept this form of payment is ridiculous. The good ones are booked up and the bad ones scare you. Plus, you have good doctors and you have bad doctors. And then you have doctors and insurance companies who hike up the prices so you have to get insuarance. Last spring I went to the ER and it cost me over $1000...and based on my income I only qualified for 40% adjustment since I did not have insurance....all they did was blood work and a quick exam.

I could say all the developed and developing countries are blended with rich and poor, managers and labours then only the country will be on the way to succeed and charity is one of the basic required and necessity to be prevailed in all citites as the corporation could take care of some extent in health front