kenisama wrote:I say, if you want free health care... join the military... you want it free for life... retire from the military.
Tricare is a joke. Even Tricare Prime is absolutely ridiculous. ...says he currently sitting around in Navy PT gear.
Otherwise, we live in the land of opportunity, there's nothing stopping you from working hard in life and achieving what you want and being able to afford health care. If your job sucks and you can't afford it... sorry for you, you shouldn't have been cutting up in class and just expecting to get a free ride.
Believe me, you and I are on the same page as far as what America ideally stands for, but unfortunately, this just isn't the reality. Those that start ahead tend to stay ahead, and those that start behind tend to stay behind, all things being equal. It is as true in socioeconomic theory as it is in newtonian physics.
And if you DID work hard and payed attention in school and still don't have health care, sorry for you to, shouldn't have bought that expensive sports car and the fancy big screen TV to obtain the social status you desire.
I am hardly talking about my moral or ethical obligation to take care of those who have the ability to take care of themselves and utterly fail to be responsible. I am rather talking about my moral and ethical obligations to assist those that start behind, work hard, and still have trouble making ends meet. Those people deserve a helping hand, and more often than not, they don't get one.
People need to prioritize their needs over their wants and stop expecting someone to bail them out after they mess up. Take ownership over your own lives.
I fundamentally agree with this, however, it is not the issue at hand. The issue at hand is middle-class and lower income families that work their asses off, some of them veterans, some of them even current service members (I should tell you my lovely experiences with Tricare sometime, they are not pleasant). We need reform, and I think that reform should include a public option. Godix and I took this conversation over to IRC and here is what we agreed to:
<Kionon> But cancer? I don't know. If I moved here from El Salvador, got my citizenship by working hard, but still only make $20,000 because I could only do so much education, and I don't smoke, I don't drink, I try to be healthy, but awww fuck, I got cancer...
<Kionon> I don't know. I think that should be covered.
<godix> Hmm. Perhaps three tiers? Basic health care for all. Strongly regulated insurance (private or public, doesn't matter as long as it's strongly regulated) for direct life affecting illness like cancer. Then totally free market insurance for elective procedures.
<Kionon> I would agree with that.
<Kionon> I would prefer that basic level be public.
<godix> And yet, AFAIK< not a single politician is discussing anything remotely like that.
<Kionon> That's because you and I understand the art of the realistic.
<godix> Yeah, I agree. Basic health care isn't a right, as we already discussed, but it is something that society is morally responsable for providing and a civilized nation would provide it. THe problem is the extremes, and that's where I think capitalistic insurance options are the best solution.
<Kionon> Unfortunately, you and I are not congress.





