Matt Davies for December 15, 2010

  1. Warcriminal
    WarBush  over 13 years ago

    God forbid we have to pay taxes for health care. Some poor working person might take advantage of it.

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    DjGuardian  over 13 years ago

    Again, WarFool, your comment fails to meet the context of the strip. though, I will give you this one since you went along with the implied meaning of the strip. Matt, however, is the one who failed.

    The problem is in the phrasing. When one is honest about the facts, falsely created faiths tend to unravel.

    The problem is the line “for not buying.” Matt admits this is about health insurance, not health care, in the same line. Thus, it is the responsibility of the individual to buy insurance or prepare for absorbing the costs in another fashion (like saving money and trying to follow a healthy lifestyle as I did).

    The outrage is mandating something that would ultimately prove to be worse than what’s already in place. These things above all occur, but they do so on a supremely small scale. I have known people in each of these examples, though the one in the middle only occurred because the person never wanted to see a doctor.

    The reality is the one in the middle very rarely happens. In fact, it happens less here than in other countries which DO provide “free” health care - paid by taxes.

    The last window will be far worse when this bill puts control of health care in the hands of the IRS as it is planned. The first could be caused by a multitude of irresponsible decisions (spending into debt to maintain a lavish lifestyle for example).

    The reality is most of those in the poorest segment that couldn’t afford health insurance or pay for basic health care themselves don’t own homes and many have access to Medicaid. Many of those which do own homes and can’t afford health insurance are those who run their own small business.

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    DjGuardian  over 13 years ago

    Better competition in the industry could lead to less costs and, thus, make insurance more affordable. It has proven true in states which have done this.

    At this point, it costs me more to use my copay for Chiropractic visits and some other functions of the insurance.

    What is missed by those who want ObamaCare to go into effect is that 75% of physicians surveyed said they would retire or operate part time if ObamaCare goes into full effect. With barely anyone trying to be a physician nowadays and there being less and less incentive to be one, there is no one to replace the losses.

    It’s one thing to have access to get care and then have to deal with the financial ramifications of a rare, major problem. It’s another to not have a doctor to even go to for basic care, let alone a major emergency.

    It’s important to not just look via one’s own choice glasses of ideology, but too also look at the objective, practical reality of the consequences.

    I’d rather pay $75 -$100 (without insurance) to be able to go to the emergency room and wait an hour or two at worst to have my child looked at only to find out he/she just has a really bad flu than to have my child die in my arms while waiting for a nonexistent physician to see my child because they all quit. I’d say that’s a bigger outrage than the paltry amount of Americans which cannot obtain insurance and would lose their shirts to obtain care.

    If our health care industry was the worst or near worst in the world then I’d say strike a major change. But when you’re the best, you don’t mess with success… At most you make a couple minor tweaks here or there to make it just a little better. Certainly you never revert towards a system that has proved itself to be worse.

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  4. Cat7
    rockngolfer  over 13 years ago

    What happens if you don’t pay your Medicare?

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  5. Avatar201803 salty
    Jaedabee Premium Member over 13 years ago

    “Thus, it is the responsibility of the individual to buy insurance or prepare for absorbing the costs in another fashion”

    What happens if your insurance company drops you?
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  6. John adams1
    Motivemagus  over 13 years ago

    Truthfully, the real problem is the insurance industry. Period. Who says? Why, healthcare providers, the Catholic Healthcare Association, etc., etc., etc. They raise doctor’s bills with malpractice insurance (and contrary to popular belief, tort reform would account for no more than a fraction of healthcare expenses), and they put a highly profitable industry between the doctor and the patient. Obama’s actual preference is for single payer. His initial proposal was for a nonprofit, self-funding insurance company sponsored by the government to promote competition (as Dj notes) because most states have relatively little. What we GOT was a Republican plan (Romney set it up in Massachusetts) with essentially a giveaway to insurance firms, because it requires people to buy from insurance companies without putting any real constraints on them. We do NOT have the “best” healthcare system in the world, by about 26 points. We are far below other industrialized nations on infant survival rates, life span, and other forms of care. And millions of people are not covered at all. The “75% of physicians surveyed would quit” line

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    James Hicks Premium Member over 13 years ago

    I would like to point out that the judge found it to be unconstitutional. I am willing to wait to see what the Supreme Court has to say about it.

    Are you GOP bashers in favor of unconstitutional stuff? (examples: unlawful search and seizure, torture, laws establishing a state religion)

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  8. Avatar201803 salty
    Jaedabee Premium Member over 13 years ago

    “I thought it wasn’t a tax? GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: But you reject that it’s a tax increase? OBAMA: I absolutely reject that notion.”

    Just like how Bob McDonnell said he wouldn’t increase taxes… but put tons of police on the highways and made them work overtime to give out a ton of extra tickets in order to close a budget shortfall. Was that a tax increase?

    Conservative rulings - “Abiding by the constitution.” Progressive rulings [e.g. PropH8, DADT, DOMA] - “Judicial activism.”

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  9. Think
    tpenna  over 13 years ago

    ^That’s all pretty naive, mdavis4183.

    Hospitals are not required by federal law to treat you. They are required to stabilize you if you present yourself in an emergency room in an unstable medical state. Thus uninsured people who couldn’t get into a PCP’s office because they can’t pay the up-front bill wind up waiting until an illness is considerably worse and going to the emergency room for monumentally more expensive care. And that considerable expense is frequently incorporated into the healthcare premiums you and I pay to our insurance companies.

    And jimxoo67, only one of three federal judges who have considered the health care reforms have found them to be unconstitutional. And I really don’t see five Supreme Court justices siding against the law’s constitutionality.

    And DjGuardian, don’t hold your breath on the mass exodus of physicians after the implementation of the reforms. That’s complete bunk.

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  10. Warcriminal
    WarBush  over 13 years ago

    “Again, WarFool, your comment fails to meet the context of the strip. though, I will give you this one since you went along with the implied meaning of the strip.”

    I didn’t know the interpretation was based on what you thought of the toon. I’ll have to send Matt Davies a letter informing him to draw on your ideas from now on.

    “The reality is the one in the middle very rarely happens.”

    The health experts disagree: http://tinyurl.com/27y4922

    “The problem is the line “for not buying.””

    Read the strip again. People who fear losing their health insurance because they have chronic health problems have to pay the insurance somehow (and at higher than normal prices). This includes credit card debt, selling the house (or taking out a second mortgage), and/or borrowing from whomever. Failure to do so gets them dropped from their current insurance and as a result end up having a pre-existing condition on their record. Once you have that the second panel becomes a reality.

    “Thus, it is the responsibility of the individual to buy insurance or prepare for absorbing the costs in another fashion (like saving money and trying to follow a healthy lifestyle as I did).”

    You make it sound like genetics isn’t a factor when living a healthy style. If your family tree makes you susceptible to heart attacks at a certain age no amount of salad eating is gonna help. And if you don’t have a job (or are forced to take a pay cut) how do you save up for an emergency or afford health insurance? Hopefully you won’t suggest that people live in meager settings and eat dog food, like Charlie555 has said at times.

    Honestly dude you seem to be really detached from reality. I can go on but I’ll leave it at that.

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  11. 1107121618000
    CorosiveFrog Premium Member over 13 years ago

    That “75 percent of doctors will quit” is an empty threat. Can’t you see it? A medical student graduates from high school and gets in medical school, living off either mom and dad, part time jobs or student loans until age 28. In Canada, doctors make about a hundred k’s a year. They probably make more in the US. Do you really think that someone who is supposed to be smart will leave its job, go work at Walmart for 20 000 a year (they have a MEDICAL formation, they didn’t have time to train in anything else) just because the salary from their former job went from 130 000 to 110 000 k’s a year?

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  12. Green lingerie   003
    riley05  over 13 years ago

    So the courts have ruled that it’s okay to force people to pay for social security, and for Medicare.

    But given that precedence, it’s not okay to force them to have health insurance.

    That makes sense.

    So a law was passed by Congress, the representatives of the people, but has been overturned by judicial activism.

    Uh, how come all the righties aren’t screaming about judicial activism?

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