United States Health Care Bill

[Defience]

insomaniacal, indeed.....it was the same with the welfare system and now the extended unemployment benefits. There are those that need it and there are those abuse it.

[insomaniacal]

Exactly, which is why I believe that to receive Wel-fare, there needs to be a thorough investigation of the situation, and a set period of time until you can no longer receive wel-fare, period. There would still be those who abuse it, but it'd already cut down on the percentage.

[everfall]

Um guys... You should be in no way forced to use public health service, and if you were then yes i would agree that it is wrong.
While it wouldn't actually be free it would be much cheaper then being forced to have health insurance.

[Defience]

darkestarrow: you picked a hot topic for discussion

[sanddbox]

insomaniacal, indeed.....it was the same with the welfare system and now the extended unemployment benefits. There are those that need it and there are those abuse it.

This is definitely true.

There's a reason for this bill, though.

It's healthcare reform.

The bill will make sure you can't be denied coverage because of any preexisting condition. They also cannot drop people when they get sick, or discriminate based on gender, health history*, or occupation.

These are real problems we have, and the bill will (in theory) fix them.

*I don't entirely agree with this part of it. If someone has a history of heart disease, he's going to cost more money. However, it will probably be balanced out by healthy people.

[darkestarrow]

darkestarrow: you picked a hot topic for discussion

I figured it would be

[Defience]

I just happened to catch a program last night on television about the US prison systems and health care. Every single prisoner is guaranteed health care while incarcerated. Everything from dental & eye, to surgeries and transplants! One woman, who is on death row, was operated on several times which saved her life, just so she can eventually be put to death. Is that some irony, or what?! Anyway, with longer, stiffer prison sentences and overcrowding it has put a huge burden on the system and of course the tax payers foot the bill. Here are some excerpts from a website:

Prison inmates are the only Americans with a constitutional right to health care, and the cost to deliver it is on the rise. States spend 10 percent of their corrections budgets on average to cover the cost of inmate health care -- a total of over $3 billion annually.

As the prison population increases, ages and increasingly suffers from chronic illnesses such as AIDS and hepatitis, state policy makers must either foot the bill, change the way health care is delivered or rethink the sentencing laws that led to the problem in the first place.

Because of "get-tough-on-crime laws" such as California's three-strikes law, more people are going to prison and staying behind bars longer, making the United States the number one incarcerator in the world.

Non-violent criminals make up a large percentage of the nation's prison population. State and federal drug laws have put 277,000 offenders in jail, which accounts for 20 percent of state prisoners and over 60 percent of federal prisoners, according to the Justice Department.

More and more inmates have chronic and terminal illnesses, such as HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and Hepatitis B and C. Texas state officials announced in May that one-third of the state's inmates may be infected with Hepatitis C, and a similar study in California found that 41 percent of incoming inmates were infected with the virus. Hepatitis C infects the liver, and is spread through contaminated blood or needles. Also, one inmate in 10 is mentally ill, some having ended up in prison when budget cuts closed state mental hospitals in the 1980s.

Texas, with the highest rate of incarceration in the country, has particular reason to worry about increasing health costs. The state pays nearly $270 million for inmate health care per year -- about $2,150 per inmate.

--quotes taken from:http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=13721

[sanddbox]

I just happened to catch a program last night on television about the US prison systems and health care. Every single prisoner is guaranteed health care while incarcerated. Everything from dental & eye, to surgeries and transplants! One woman, who is on death row, was operated on several times which saved her life, just so she can eventually be put to death. Is that some irony, or what?! Anyway, with longer, stiffer prison sentences and overcrowding it has put a huge burden on the system and of course the tax payers foot the bill.

The reason they have to keep her alive is the same as the entire reason for Death Row. You want to be absolutely sure they committed the crime and deserve the death penalty.

What if they die because they didn't get surgery and it turns out they were innocent?

[Defience]

I just happened to catch a program last night on television about the US prison systems and health care. Every single prisoner is guaranteed health care while incarcerated. Everything from dental & eye, to surgeries and transplants! One woman, who is on death row, was operated on several times which saved her life, just so she can eventually be put to death. Is that some irony, or what?! Anyway, with longer, stiffer prison sentences and overcrowding it has put a huge burden on the system and of course the tax payers foot the bill.

The reason they have to keep her alive is the same as the entire reason for Death Row. You want to be absolutely sure they committed the crime and deserve the death penalty.

What if they die because they didn't get surgery and it turns out they were innocent?

Dude....shes ON death row, not on trial. Shes been tried and convicted, hence why shes been in prison.

[sanddbox]

I just happened to catch a program last night on television about the US prison systems and health care. Every single prisoner is guaranteed health care while incarcerated. Everything from dental & eye, to surgeries and transplants! One woman, who is on death row, was operated on several times which saved her life, just so she can eventually be put to death. Is that some irony, or what?! Anyway, with longer, stiffer prison sentences and overcrowding it has put a huge burden on the system and of course the tax payers foot the bill.

The reason they have to keep her alive is the same as the entire reason for Death Row. You want to be absolutely sure they committed the crime and deserve the death penalty.

What if they die because they didn't get surgery and it turns out they were innocent?

Dude....shes ON death row, not on trial. Shes been tried and convicted, hence why shes been in prison.

Yes, but when you are on Death Row it takes several years to be executed. Why? We need to be absolutely sure they are guilty.