Gary Varvel for May 31, 2013

Affordable healthcare is what you have a shot at if you have a full time job, it’s part of your compensation. How good of a policy is the next question. This is the reason we need to take the burden of healthcare insurance away from employers and switch it to individuals through a universal program that everyone pays into when they generate income. None of us want to pay for the uninsured at the local ER, most of us want kids to have access to preventive care.

And for what specific reason can the depicted couple cannot afford to keep their health insurance?

Apparently so do Conservative Reactionaries. heh heh.

Thank you for being the only reasonable person today. Logic seems in short supply typically on the comments.

“wow, like you mean the R was right about Obamacare?”

Obamacare has some very good points, and some extremely bad ones. To be fair, the system before it could have us say the same thing.

Ryan is dead wrong with his plan. I have explained it over and over on this site, so will not repeat. Romney’s plan: let the states handle it, was a different train wreck.

How much was spent in time and money to take Obamacare to the Supreme Court? No one will ever tell, but you can be assured it was way more than we should have. Now multiply that number by 50. And remember it took years to get through the courts. What will people do in the meantime? Talk about business not knowing what to do next….

Universal health care is the only answer. The only question is how many expensive false alternatives we will have to endure before arriving there. I’ll start the countdown: Obamacare is the first one.

And if the Republicans want to show their superiority, they have to do more than vote to repeal. If you don’t have a better idea, you have no idea.

“Forcing people to get something they can’t afford, is not a solution! "

On the surfact, you are absolutely correct. But, if you can’t afford to take your meds for your diabetes, how will you afford to pay for amputations, kidney disease, and/or dialysis?

THIS is why we have to have universal healthcare. If it is up to the individual to be responsible and shop for and purchase his/her own coverage, nothing will change this scenario.

Despite the promise that “If you like the plan you are in, you can keep it,” the AP reports that plans are being cancelled all over the country because of ObamaCare. One insurer explains it this way:

A very small share of the market today is “grandfathered” under ObamaCare. To be grandfathered, someone would have had the policy in 2010 and essentially make no changes.This means almost every policy on the street today in the individual and small group markets is not legal for one reason or another (essential health benefits, actuarial value ranges, etc.)So if policies are not going to be legal in 2014, then insurers have to either “amend” the policies to comply with ObamaCare. Insurers can only do that one of two ways:Cancel the policies and migrate individuals into new products that are compliant with the law. (giving the consumer a choice on which compliant product they want to migrate into)Amend the policies to comply with all the requirements and include a “rate action” with those amendments.How this is happening is a state-by-state decision, with some regulators asking us to cancel & migrate while others are asking us to amend. In most cases it will probably be a cancel & migrate.

And people like you, making comments like this: “Our government must step in, eliminate the big insurance companies and take over this aspect of our lives.”Are the reason why we are in such a big mess. People have lost any sense of self-reliance, expecting nanny state to step in and do it for them. It’s not their job, nor is it within the federal government’s purview, to do this. In fact, it toes the line of being unconstitutional. And comments like this are what send businesses in a tizzy, because people like you vote for morons who want to crush 18% of this nation’s economy. If you put all the health insurance companies out of work, what would you do with all those workers? Employ them as public sector workers? How are you going to pay for that, genius? You can’t raise taxes on “the rich” high enough to pay for it. They don’t have that much income.I posted an extensive way to combat the problem, while still keeping protections for those who need protecting and also making people responsible for themselves. Government is never the solution; it frequently is the problem. Once you accept this, you will begin to understand why comments like yours get under so many people’s skin.

C’mon folks, it isn’t Barry, it wasn’t Billy-Bob, it will never be Mittens and it wasn’t even Georgie! It’s the GD banks and insurance companies on an international scale that have been callin’ the shots for nearly 300 years. Look it up, think about it and then you can call me an a$$#ol@! And don’t even start talkin’ ’bout Jews!

“And don’t even start talkin’ ’bout Jews!”

Oh, please do. This is going to be fun.

“They would rather not work.”

“Almost 1.5 million newly unemployed every month.”

Two of your key “facts” are in conflict.

So, tell me where this is happening because, here in Virginia no such thing is happening.

I’m not sure what you mean when you say “Govt doesn’t run health insurance they pay for it out of a single pool.” Which government are you speaking of? Here in Canada, health insurance is managed by provincial governments. In Ontario everyone is covered automatically. It’s funded from tax revenue. I have experience only with the systems in the US and in Canada, and I much prefer the Canadian system. I don’t claim it’s perfect. But when, for instance, deerflatener says that the Canadian system is fine so long as you don’t get sick, he’s just speaking from ignorance. And prejudice.

“What we must figure out is WHY our people cannot afford health care”

Between 10-20% of total health costs are defensive medicine. Since you are so in love with the European system will you support tort reform and eliminate law suits?

Yes — except that the Canadian system works very well, despite the lies of your American insurance company and its lapdogs.

Enjoy your national anthem. My wife grew up in the Soviet Union – she knows what you are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yDrtNEr_5M

::an estimated 75 percent of Canadians live within 161 kilometers (100 miles) of the U.S. border.

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/canada-facts/

You obviously know nothing about your own country

Of course it wasn’t an uproar in Canada. So many come down here so his American treatment was the norm.

Varvel appeals to the illiterate once again — California is reporting that not only are ACA premiums coming in lower than private company premiums, but even lower than first estimated. $200 a month, lower deductible and a lower cap sounds good to me — but, then, I’m not getting all my information from Rushbo the Clown.

Thanks, ahab. I value your opinion.

“And for every Canadian that does so, a HUNDRED Americans flood north to take advantage of Canada’s amazingly inexpensive medical, drug, dental, and optical systems because they can’t afford the outrageously expensive American prices.”

“References? Or is that just another story that Canadians tell each other to make themselves feel better?

Lonecat:

Serious question. If I were a Canadian citizen would I be given for free the new medication just prescribed for me? I can get it here in the US. Pomaliodomide (Pomalyst) $10,000/month.

2011 44,794. Tens of thousands

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/?Article_ID=20790

::an estimated 75 percent of Canadians live within 161 kilometers (100 miles) of the U.S. border.http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/canada-facts/You obviously know nothing about your own country

Your turn.

Well, okay, I should have included Avik along with Rushbo the Clown. You got me.

Churchill

I met Avik at a Libertarian meeting. He is a physician who chose to go into business. Really, really smart and hard working. If you ask him he will put you on his mailing list.