Looming Court Ruling Worries Some With Health Woes

(Reuters) - Texan Sam Lovett had no health insurance in August 2010 when an emergency hospital stay brought the news from his doctors that his liver was failing and he could die within less than a year without a transplant.

Read the whole story: Reuters

Comments

[Anne Rutherford]

01:18 PM on 06/04/2012

To all of your here who believe that all disease is a matter of personal responsibility, it doesn't always work that way. There are diseases and accidents that have nothing to do with smoking, or drinking, or junk food, or any of the rest of your proposed "reasons" why you don't want to cover your fellow citizens. First, you are cheap, that's right - cheap. You don't want to pay taxes. Second, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and several forms of cancer as well as a host of other conditions have no root in diet, etc. I hope each of you realize you are one accident (which may not be your fault) from a traumatic brian injury, a spinal cord injury, or other debiliting injury that will leave you unable to work and provide your own health insurance. You will be surprised to learn, once you have that injury, that your SSDI is taxable, that you get to wait 2 years before you qualify for Medicare, and a number of other interesting quirks. Have fun!

[tobcantine]

12:07 PM on 06/04/2012

There are 40 MILLION people in the U.S. who have zero health insurance and who lack the funds to pay for medical care. They are people of all racial and political sectors. They each have their own situations which create this situation for them. One friend, for example, has been out of work for 3 years. She is energetically looking for work. She found a friend who allows her to live in his camper on his driveway in exchange for her doing a little work in his business so she is not homeless. She has found a few jobs, but they have each been temporary. She has no access to medical care. Luckily, though she is in her 50s, she is in good health! Even so, she should get at least a yearly thorough exam. This would catch any potentially dangerous situation such as breast cancer, cervical cancer, high blood pressure, cholesterol being up, and so on. I am encouraging her to start a business. She is one example of the situation of the need for health care to be available.

Republicans may not want people to die, but what they want is: Don't make me take responsibility for other's medical insurance. If others can't afford to buy it, they say, it is not their problem! I can understand that. Why should we help others? Does it matter if others around us get sick and maybe die?

[PickedName]

05:40 AM on 06/04/2012

Quit portraying Republicans as "those people who want everyone to die" already. First off, over 1/3 of the country is registered Republican. Really, a third of us want everyone to just die? Don't be silly. Next, it's not a question of if health care reform is needed, the opposition is primarily due to the mandate and how to go about it.

Seriously, instead of just painting people who disagree with you on how to do something as the devil incarnate, how about trying to see it from their perspective, and find some common ground? I assure you it's far more productive than doing your best to alienate the other half of the voting populace.

[Cinquopated]

07:21 AM on 06/04/2012

Okay, not all Republican citizens (but - judging by the comment - many on this board).

However, most Republican officials have gone on record, signing declarations and what not, that they will refuse any and all legislation that seeks to regulate the private insurance industry or any measure that would allow the government either to provide health insurance or affordable medicine. Many of these same officials have gone on record saying they would like to get rid of safety networks that provide health insurance and (semi-)affordable medicine for people with (extremely) low incomes and elderly with low incomes.

It's not that we're trying to be rude, but what do you make of people who say that if you don't have insurance and you can't pay out of pocket, then you deserve to die - we even heard them cheer for just such a proposal at one of the Republican debates.

These are the same people who won't even enter into a debate. It's very frustrating.

[morbius]

10:20 AM on 06/04/2012

Not until the population in question can demonstrate an IQ over 80. How about turning off Fox for a start.

[PickedName]

02:05 AM on 06/07/2012

I haven't watched Fox in probably a couple of years, excepting the occasional segment on a specific topic on youtube that I'm interested in hearing how they're going to spin and bias it. There are a couple of okay shows on Fox Business Channel that are good, but that's a bit different than the regular Fox that's distributing foolishness to the masses.

It's worth noting that there are networks doing the same sort of thing for the left, so Fox alone is hardly the entirety of the problem...it's just the portion on the side that you aren't ideologically in agreement with.

[imdcinegrip]

01:29 AM on 06/04/2012

There are only a few things people need to be healthy, Do not take pharmaceuticals, do not smoke, do not drink alcohol, eat since-ably and exercise. All you should have in a medicine cabinet are, Colloidal silver, food grade hydrogen peroxide and tea tree oil. With the exception of broken bones you need no doctors.. And the most important, A Bible.. You do not need to trust in insurance. People lived thousands of years with no insurance, That came along in the 20 century.. Now your government is trying to sell you the biggest lie of all... put your trust where it belongs...

[Cinquopated]

06:17 AM on 06/04/2012

You've now posted your ignorance (with slightly different wording) all over this thread. Please stop, you just look foolish.
From, a friend trying to save you the embarrassment

[drj516]

08:07 AM on 06/04/2012

"People lived thousands of years with no insurance, That came along in the 20 century"

In 1900, the average life expectancy was 47.6 years for men, and 47.3 for women. That was the last time men lived longer than women, due to childbirth complications in the early 20th Century.

Today, it's over 80 years for women, and around 75 for men.

And if Jesus were alive today, he'd throw the private insurance companies out of the Temple.
Not because he wouldn't believe in Medicine, but because he'd see them as Money-changers (your pocket to theirs).

[nothingchanges]

12:37 AM on 06/04/2012

Personal opinion.

The seriously ill aren't the only ones that should be "worried" right now.

If one assumes that the major religions of the world have at least some validity, and there really is a judgement day waiting for us all. That event will apply to Supreme Court justices as well.

Given what their decision may do to millions of Americans.

I don't think I'd care to change places with them on the FINAL "judgement day".

[imdcinegrip]

01:17 AM on 06/04/2012

I do not think I would be worried if I were one of those judges. If you want to know Gods view of this subject read, Matthew 25..... The 10 Virgins. It is an example of foolishness, Drink, smoke, take all kinds of drugs and eat poorly and live a life of disregard for your health and you will pay for it, I will pay for my disregard and you for yours.... It is not wise to think God to be foolish as is man....God blesses he whom He will and curses he whom He will without regard... No one truly needs insurance, just take better care of yourself and do some research.....

[morbius]

10:24 AM on 06/04/2012

I pray for one thing: your secession. I do not want you in a position to make decisions for me or any other intelligent person in THIS country.

[tobcantine]

12:21 PM on 06/04/2012

So, let us take what you say literally: I know someone who did not drink, smoke,or eat sugar or junk food for 30 years. He researched and found a very healthful diet which he followed. Then he got cancer anyway. Luckily for him, he had health insurance!

So, you are saying that we should not have insurance? He should just die since it was God's will?

My own view is that God gave us medical care, and it is up to us to use it for ourselves and our fellow man. Failing to do so, is, essentially, killing oneself and others. I mean there is killing by shooting someone, for example, and there is also killing by failing to take care of someone who needs it. That, too, is killing or murder, though subtle, and it is against the 10 Commandments.

[Just Don]

12:31 AM on 06/04/2012

I believe we need universal health-care. Baby-steps. Some steps will be wrong, some right, some painful, some brilliant ... just get started.

[imdcinegrip]

12:29 AM on 06/04/2012

I see a lot of people do not understand why others do not want Obamacare. Well, I do not want to pay for people who smoke, I don't, people who eat garbage food, I don't, People who take all kind of drugs, even legal, I don't, These people are the sick ones. I have not been sick in so many years I do not even remember when the last time was. Take better care of yourself and do not live off drugs to make you feel good and you will not need insurance.. Very simple, I will not pay for you to play with your health and live a dangerous life. All pharmacy drugs slowly kill you, learn to live with a little pain instead of running to the doctor every time you ache.......

[annie mac]

02:11 AM on 06/04/2012

Why draw the line at health care? Why not complain about having to buy vehicle insurance because it's not your fault that people drive dangerously, or about having to pay taxes that pay for weapons because you're a pacifist, or about having to pay taxes that fund emergency services because people should be more careful and not have accidents or fires...?

And so on and so forth.

You live in a society made up of all sorts of people doing all sorts of things, including all sorts of people and things that other people don't like, including paying for things that *they* don't like. That's what a society is and that's how it works, so get used to it. Many members of society are in fact contributing to all sorts of things which you - but perhaps not they - agree with and benefit from.

[Norskie]

02:41 AM on 06/04/2012

My father never smoked, never drank, exercised, ate healthy and one day he was diagnosed with Non-hodgkins lymphoma...no cause it just happened. So wise up...you can't predict the future. Diagnosis to death took 10 weeks and he left behind a small child: me. What goes around comes around....I fell sorry for you.

[crosshatchaz]

11:57 PM on 06/03/2012

It amazes me how much ignorance and inference of the Affordable Health Care Act actually flows here.
It is like ever-flowing propaganda and lies on a bed of ignorance.

No wonder people actually consider voting Republican. They just don't know any better. Sad.

[imdcinegrip]

12:37 AM on 06/04/2012

As far as I am concerned healthcare can collapse, I don't care. The only reason people need it is because they live a life of smoking, drinking and taking drugs and then when they realize what they have done, They want someone to take care of them, No thanks... No R of D here, I also do not believe it makes any difference, you get the same thing no matter how you vote.. Take care of yourself and I will take care of myself... Only a fool puts there trust in some man saying I will give you everything you want, Just vote for me..... LoL

[morbius]

10:26 AM on 06/04/2012

If I saw you bleeding on the side walk from an accident and knew you position on health care, I'd laugh and walk on by. Count on it.

[crosshatchaz]

12:47 PM on 06/04/2012

"The only reason people need it is because they live a life of smoking, drinking and taking drugs and then when they realize what they have done,"
Clearly you have proven my point of a "bed of ignorance".

So If I just take care of myself, I will never have an accident? Cancer? One of any of a million diseases out there? Seriously?
I have never wished any one ill, as I am a nurse, but you need some serious eye-opening.

[Ponderus]

11:55 PM on 06/03/2012

Obamacare stands to make huge, new profits for the insurance industry. Ironically, striking it down will deny them that money, and may cause eventually the same kind of systemic collapse that brought down the savings and loan industry in the 1980's. At some point businesses and individuals will simply bot be able to pay the premiums -- down goes the health care system.

[CherMoe]

12:23 AM on 06/04/2012

Have you any clue what Bush's Medicare Part D mandatory plan did for the insurance companies and what it costs seniors? And for the most part, the Advantage plans are more of a rip-off than an "advantage". Look it up.

[drmdj]

11:22 PM on 06/03/2012

A question for all the Baggers. If the media was controlled by Liberals, why then, during the whole HC debate with all the marches in Washington and the numerous misspelled signs, wasn"t the fact that the Founders agreed with the mandating of HC ever mentioned?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2011/01/17/congress-passes-socialized-medicine-and-mandates-health-insurance-in-1798/

[woodrow2012]

04:04 AM on 06/04/2012

Because it wasn't true. This was just for sailors that provided foreign trade for America. Today, all the military branches and merchant marines require health insurance in one form or another. Back then, if you didn't want mandated health insurance, then just don't be a sailor.

[Cacey]

07:39 AM on 06/04/2012

That's not the point. A segment of the population regardless of what precious state they lived in was Required to buy insurance.

[Democrat in the South]

11:20 PM on 06/03/2012

If Obama has to redo any of what the S.C. might undo, maybe he can do it right next time. Make it left wing instead of right wing.

[lawson 19015]

09:10 AM on 06/04/2012

Sounds confusing Do you mean right wing instead of left wing?

[Democrat in the South]

09:22 AM on 06/04/2012

The whole law is based on republican ideas....It would be better to be Democratic ideas.

[animal8us]

11:18 PM on 06/03/2012

I like the glibness on this thread. Many responses on this thread echo the sentiment
"People die. Oh well nothing you can do."
I wonder if these same people would have the same attitude if their child was dying
and the only thing preventing treatment was a lack of money. Happens all the time.

[imdcinegrip]

12:43 AM on 06/04/2012

This is about drugs and money, Nothing else..... If you want drugs, buy them and they will get your money, I am not going to pay for it.. Your child needing help is a different subject entirely, no one will let a child go without care..... You do not need obomacare for that... People that have thrown their life away with self abuse want obomacare...

[animal8us]

02:19 AM on 06/04/2012

No, it's about a whole lot more. Yes lots of people will let children go with out care especially health insurance CEOs.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/08/cigna-employee-flips-off_n_314189.html
You can find it on other news sources if you don't trust HP. This case is by no means isolated.
As far as the "I don't want to pay for it attitude", the GOP has lots projects I don't/didn't want to pay for: war in Iraq, war against women, voter suppression, oil subsidies, etc.
I guess compared to the idiocy the Right wants us to pay for, I don't mind if my taxes go towards health care and education for my fellow citizens. I'm cheap, but not that cheap.

[annie mac]

02:20 AM on 06/04/2012

You know, I think you're a wee bit confused about health care reform. It brings about *affordable* healthcare insurance - private health care insurance policies that people *pay* for themelves.

Why do you think that *you* are paying for them?

[thereisonlyoneparty]

10:20 AM on 06/04/2012

But changing the payer does not change anything.

It does not create unlimited funding. It just shifts how funding is distributed.

Are you going to claim that deaths based on cost-benefit analysis or QALY are somehow better than deaths due to inability to pay? Does considering QALY and using it to determine treatment protocols justify the deaths that result from those decisions?

I really would like to know.

[Democrat in the South]

11:18 PM on 06/03/2012

Since we now know that republicans accuse Democrats of doing what they do or are planning to do, we know that when republicans were accusing the Democrats of creating death panels that's what the right wing was planning all along. Right wing S.C. death panels.

[2Shy]

11:09 PM on 06/03/2012

Why is OK to ask a 30-year-old to pay for the health care of a senior citizen (via Medicare) or a poor person (via Medicaid)? Why is asking the same 30yo to pay for the health care of someone who doesn't fall into either one of those groups somehow unconstitutional?

[rkallen09]

11:33 PM on 06/03/2012

And your reasoning behind people who do carry insurance having to pay higher premiums when that thirty year old suddenly needs emergency care due to accident or illness and is unable to pay because he/she did not carry insurance?

[CaliforniaCeltic]

11:44 PM on 06/03/2012

Taxes are not mandates, Which Medicare and medicaid are. Taxes are legal, and clearly upheld by the Supreme Court. A Mandate that EVERY citizen buy something from private insurance insurance company (of which the government can't control costs) is not clearly legal

[goodmarina]

11:06 PM on 06/03/2012

To anyone who wants the Healthcare Reform law struck down by the Supreme Court ...   can you explain to me why it is OK to spend trillions on Wars but not a couple of Billion in healthcare on Americans?

[Ponderus]

11:51 PM on 06/03/2012

Wars make the 1% money, sick people don't.

[crosshatchaz]

11:51 PM on 06/03/2012

No. They cannot explain it to you without their brain bursting.