A Sincere Suggestion Regarding Healthcare

Walter- The point is, if they had to deal with the same health care options as the rest of us, I believe that they would be much more careful in crafting a plan.

The way things are now, whatever they do, it's no "skin off their nose".

We have people who work for corporations who also "work the system". As a society we end up paying for them via higher prices and/or lousy service. I don't know what the limit is in your state to qualify for Medicad, but in my state an individual is capped at a yearly income of $8,200 and you cannot have any savings, investments or other family income. You must be bankrupt. I don't know what kind of elective surgery your relative had, but I can tell you my girlfriend (who I've written about here and who was solidly upper middle class before getting ill) that she would be dead now if it wasn't for Medicad. Medicad will not cover the reconstruction surgery she was hoping to have. Sadly, she had to lose everything before she could qualify, and because she is afraid her illness might return she has decided not to restart her design business, but rather take a job as an office assistant in a public school to be guaranteed health care in the future. She felt lucky to get that because she was black balled by companies who feared their insurance premiums would go up if they hired her. Her former employees have to find work elsewhere. She will no longer pay taxes of someone who made over $100,000. I think as a nation we can do better for people like her (and perhaps one day me). I personally would be happy to pay more taxes to guarantee myself dignity and proper medical treatment if I should get ill and be unable to work. All I want is the option.

Green Witch- Sure there are corporate types who work the system, but that is a totally different issue. Your friend is one of a group of which I believe deserves Medicaid. She worked, paid taxes, and fell ill. That is not her fault. I have no problem with paying taxes to help people like her.

Well, what I wanted to say is that elsewhere lawmakers are under the same conditions as all other citizens.

From the Bundestag (parliament) website:

Making Congress People have a "personal interest" in an issue as a way to get legislation passed... now that is an interesting idea.

If we could drop Congress people in a third world country where they don't speak the language since they grew up and went to school in the US, after spending a few months in an ICE prison and without any regard to children or spouses they might be leaving behind.

Maybe that is the key to getting Immigration reform passed.

((Then we can move on to gun control and stem cell research))

I know we are not arguing the general point, but the problem is she had to lose everything in order to get treatment. I've worked hard too and the thought that I am one illness away from bankruptcy and "the kindness of strangers" scares me greatly. Right now people like myself have few options. I want to contribute to a system that guarantees I will not have to go into bankruptcy to get medical care. I am willing to pay for that in the form of higher taxes (and I make much less than $200,000 plus class Obama wants to tax). I am debating at this very moment if I should spend a lot of money to get a mole looked at because it might be skin cancer. I can afford the doctor visit and even the $1200 biopsy, but if it's serious I could end up broke or dead. Even if it's nothing, I have to consider it will then be seen as a "previous condition" by insurance companies. I might as well live in Paraquay for the kind of medical attention I can afford - and I am considered solid middle class. The health and security of our citizens is too important to be run as a Big Profit Business. We all need to pay and we all need to be covered.