How much is national health care going to cost us?

netjr - 2007-07-31 14:35:58 - Politics

Here is the thing. I have health care because we work and our employer provides us a nice health care package. I know it costs our employer $600 a month or more. So when I hear the liberal presidential candidates claiming they are going to give health care to all - I have to ask who is going to pay for that? Are they saying I have to pay for the health care of those unwilling to work for it?

Best Answer:

think of the largest number you can - then raise that number to the 10th power do that for every year.

Answer:

think of the largest number you can - then raise that number to the 10th power do that for every year.

Yup, basically.

*applause* Well said.

yes, and it will cost Trillions

Hillary and Barack promise health care to everyone, even illegals. The tab will be paid by those who work. Expect taxes to go up about 25%.

ask the patients dying on the emergency room floors or the illegals whove overwhelmed our hospitals with anchor babies.

How much will it cost us not to have it? Having some kind of universal coverage could save money because it could lower the fees charged by doctors and hospitals and allow for preventive care instead of letting diseases get serious and expensive to treat.

It will cost more than the nation can afford. But then, so have most government policies since The Great Society.

We all ready pay for national health care MEDICARE and MEDICADE! It'd be nice if everyone got it. Not just folks who DON'T work for a living!

It will cost us an arm and a leg........ and a big percentage of our Paycheck. Democrats want it because they don't have taxes taken from their Welfare Checks.

Willingness has little to do with it. At current prices you'd have to work 24/7 to pay for health care and still pay the bills on time. It is simplistic to think that everyone who can't afford health care must be lazy. If I make more than you, is it safe to assume I work that much harder than you? Is there a sliding scale? Does a CEO work 1000 times harder or is 1000 times smater than a janitor in his building? ==Edit== Look at peter pans response below. She has it right...you're already paying.

"How much is national health care going to cost us?" A whole bunch less than an unnecessary war in Iraq has cost us. By the way where I work my part of the insurance premium is $1000 a month for just two people. If that isn't outrageous for insurance I don't know what is.

you should also include in your question, is it going to cover the 12-20 million illegals whom in large part do not pay into the system. i have heard trillions by the time,including illegals, they get medicare and all the entitlement programs involved.

Aha! THAT, my friend, is the magic question. Who pays? The answer begins with "tax the rich:" and ends with " cut funding for Iraq." And, guess who pays for coverage for those who cannot afford it or will not pay. You and me, pal. Are you confident our congress can come up with a workable plan??My feeling, not in a million years.

Most Americans want to know the price tag of health care reform. And when you hear people talking about the potential cost, recognize that you probably aren't hearing the whole story. Proponents will talk about the direct cost of health care reform, but remember that are other hidden costs that may be more significant. Health care reform may cost much more than we think it will. The direct costs may not seem like much, but don't forget to count the indirect costs to you and to American business.

It's not the money. The problem is that government paid universal health care never works. Just ask the people from former USSR how good their health care was.

Who do you think pays for Medicare and Medicaid?

Answer me this: how much is it worth it to you to know that the people you sit with on the subway, make your sandwich at the deli, or bag your groceries, have been to the doctor once in the past five years? To know that they've gotten their vaccinations? To know that the nagging cough they've had has been checked out and isn't tuberculosis? To know that if there WAS an epidemic, such as from a human-to-human transmitted SARS or a really bad flu, that people would be getting medical treatment instead of their cases going unreported? Universal health care isn't just to benefit the individuals who can't otherwise afford it. It's also a massive benefit to the rest of us.

we can look at the estimated cost of just one state, Wisconsin, that is trying to implement it. Democrats who run the Wisconsin Senate have dropped the Washington pretense of incremental health-care reform and moved directly to passing a plan to insure every resident under the age of 65 in the state. And, wow, is "free" health care expensive. The plan would cost an estimated $15.2 billion, or $3 billion more than the state currently collects in all income, sales and corporate income taxes. It represents an average of $510 a month in higher taxes for every Wisconsin worker. Employees and businesses would pay for the plan by sharing the cost of a new 14.5% employment tax on wages. Wisconsin businesses would have to compete with out-of-state businesses and foreign rivals while shouldering a 29.8% combined federal-state payroll tax, nearly double the 15.3% payroll tax paid by non-Wisconsin firms for Social Security and Medicare combined. As if that's not enough, the health plan includes a tax escalator clause allowing an additional 1.5 percentage point payroll tax to finance higher outlays in the future. This could bring the payroll tax to 16%

It will never happen so do not worry about it.

Money's no longer the issue when we can afford a war that we aren't paying for. The national debt has more than doubled since 2001 from 4 Trillion to almost 9 Trillion dollars. In previous wars of long duration, the government increased taxes, primarily on those whom could afford it in order to pay for the wartime expenditures. Under the current administration, we printed the money in order to pay for the wars in Iraq/Afganistan. Therefore, if we can print money for war and not worry about how to pay it; then we can print money to take care of people. SInce it comes down to; which is better? Spending money to kill or spending money to heal? How many hundreds of billions would be saved by going to a single payer system instead of paying private insurer's? Medicare/Medicaid spends roughly 5% on administrative costs. Private Health Care Insurers spends roughly 30+ percent on administrative costs (stock options, profits, bonus's, ect.). If we can spend 20 billion a month in Iraq; then we most certainly can afford to ensure that people aren't placed in poverty due to medical expenses. Over 50% of bankruptcy's are due to the high cost of medical procedures; which Insurerer's find many different ways in not covering. We'll take care of you when we take your insurance money until it times to start paying claims. We need a single payer system; we can develop the processes to ensure that it is efficient, effective and still allow people to select the medical providers that they want. Most doctor's the AMA are for a single payer system. It's only the Medical Insurers Pharmaceutical companies whom are against it and they primarily contribute to the Republican Party. For the 95% of us whom aren't in the upper middle class; a single payer system will be the best care of all. Lastly, we already have a single payer system for those that qualify, Vets, Seniors, Government Employees at all levels, Congressman Senators. Let's open up Medicare for all.

lets just say the US provides everyone wth healthcare and it costs them just as much as your employer 600 per person times 300 million Americans equals 180 billion a month! what the hell!!!! I say lets keep healthcare the way it is, Dammit, I'm Happy!

Yeah your taxes would go up but then you could go in and get your head checked for free instead of receiving a hospital bill that would drain your savings. Not everybody has an employer who can afford to give their employees healthcare. These employers are the small business owners that make this country run. And the repubs claim they are all for the working class and small business. What a load. Doug0102, wake up man. I don't see Canada or the UK complaining that their health care system doesn't work.

Who knows until we actually see the law? Anyone can dream up any figures to scare people away. The main thing is that it works excellent in ALL other industrialized countries. By the way, your employer is getting away cheap, probably because he/she bought you a cheap plan with little or no coverage, or no catastrophic coverage. Just hope you never get really sick to find out. I have a single friend who is paying $900.00 a month out of his own pocket ! Look that one up in your Funk and Wagnel.

Sure....you will personally need to pay for the healthcare of all those people who are unwilling to pay for it. 1) The cost of the healthcare be part of our tax system although likely part of this cost will remain part of the employment costs for some time to come for the employed. 2) It would be nice to think of others less fortunate than yourself like the sick, kids and the elderly. Healthcare is a basic need of every person not an option. 3) lets buy a few less weapon systems or eliminate some corporate welfare ( 20 billion to the Oil industry alone when they are making world record profits) and shazam...no cost to us.

Your short sighted and selfish attitude could one day cost you your life. Improving the health of the whole community means less people get sick. That means more people can work and pay taxes and there is a much better chance for disease prevention which is far more cost effective than cure. What happens if your employer goes bust? Anyone would think you had never heard of Enron. Paying profit making insurers for your own health care is a gamble you can quite easily lose. Get smart like the majority of Europeans and build a national health service the nation can be proud of.

Think for a minute. *Healthcare costs the average American worker 14% of their income. The average for every other industrialized nation is 7%. * We live less longer than others plus have more babies who die at birth. * You and our politicians are being brainwashed by large healthcare companies.

probably less than the health insurance you pay now