OK – is anyone else getting sick of the health care discussion? I am not sick – as in tired of talking about it – I am sick of all the misinformation; fear mongering; politicking that has been connected with the discussion about health care. Before I start my rant, let me say that I know we have a problem with rising costs; accessibility and lack of available medical personnel. However, going to a less competitive; governmental run health care system will create a greater crisis. Not only that, NO POLITICIAN is discussing one of the greatest evils being perpetrated on the health care industry – frivolous law suits by ambulance chasing lawyers. Nevertheless, this national conversation has forced us to do some good ole fashion research to get the real scoop on this issue. My biggest question has been this incredibly high number of “uninsured Americans” that democrats and other PRO govt health care pundits keep touting.
The figure I last heard (I say “last” because depending on who you talk to the number changes) – it was 50 million. So I asked myself where does one find out WHO THESE people really are – so I typed into google – “uninsured Americans” – novel research techniques! It took me to Wikipedia where I found documented numbers…..here is what I found out!
· 8 Million are children. Here's the problem….they are already provided for thru their state’s CHIP program. We already provide to the poor families who have kids.
· 8 Million are young adults between 18-24 yr old. Here's the problem. These are students or young people “finding themselves” – they are extremely healthy and most can be on their parents policies until 21 yrs old if they are in college. They do not NEED a health policy per say.
· Of the 34 million that remains – 43% or 14 million are non-citizens living in America – that’s right “illegal aliens” – they have broken the law and are undocumented and so we are going to provide for these people who should not be here. If we offer them govt health care guess how many more will cross our borders??
· We are now down to 20 million – of that 10 million are actually “acute or chronically uninsured” – the other ten go off and on insurance because they change jobs; move; go into retirement; lose their jobs or a large percentage do not want insurance. Who is that? People who have “self insured” – they have set up health savings accounts years ago and their WISE investment has afforded them with a handsome savings invested and all they purchase is catastrophe insurance and pay their very high deductible or co-pays.
· Here are some more facts…. The highest states are Texas; California; NY; New Mexico; Florida. Throw those states out of the union and we have NO CRISIS!
· 61% of the UIA make under $50K – 38% make over $50K.
· Just over 1/3 of the UIA are Hispanic…little less than a 1/3 are blacks….the rest is OTHER!
You see this is a manufactured crisis. You hear about the few tragic cases where families that have an unusual illness will go into bankruptcy – tragic! But why over turn the best health care system in the world for a few cases. Could it be that Obama and the democrats are using this faux-crisis to pay back minorities and grease the palms of a voting bloc that has been “very, very, good to the them?” That is what it looks like!
One last thought – in 1986 President Reagan signed into law the “Emergency Medical Treatment Act” which basically says that every American deserves and must receive emergency care – no one is turned aside. Now that does not mean they receive long term care, I understand that. But for life threatening care, you get it in America.
Americans need to wake up and smell what is cooking in the White House. This has little to do with caring for the needy but assuring a vote for the years to come! Problem is that middle class Americans will pay the bill while people who are not giving a dime into the system drain us dry of resources. If you don’t believe me – just look at California.