Why are we looking at universal healthcare when we should be looking at ways of creating jobs w/ healthcare?

Healthcare costs in this country are extremely high and many companies cannot afford to pay for insurance for their employees, and what do you do about part-time or seasonal employees, or people who cannot find work? The U.S. is way behind most developed nations in terms of how we care for our citizens. We pay taxes for many other things that are for the greater good (roads, law enforcement, military, etc.), so what is the big deal about providing health care for everyone? All we are talking about is pooling our money to help everyone get the best care available.

Western countries with universal health care have better results and health statistics than those with private systems. Tying healthcare to employment is problematic--it forces US companies to take on expenses foreign competitors don't have to and leaves those out of work, permenantly or temporarily (increasingly common in the modern high tech economy), in a bad place.

That is already being done. With health care for profit, its all about the bottom line. Money first, people second With Universal Health Care its about the people first People first, Money second. I like the people way better. =============== ======== We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. =============== Anyone who says the preamble doesn't count doesn't realize, if that is ignored, then we must ignore the whole constitution. Every word counts. =============== "insure the domestic tranquility" Is our society tranquil if a catastrophic illness happens and we loose everything we have worked for our whole lives gets eaten up in bankruptcy court? "establish justice" is it justice when we have the highest medical costs in the world that affectively takes away all we have worked for because our insurance ran out, the insurance we paid for but in the end fails us? "Promote the General Welfare" Some say that the founding fathers didn't mean "promote the general welfare" meant welfare for the people. But back then, the local doctor and surgeon was usually the local barber. There is no way on earth they could envision the practice of medicine today that takes up billions of dollars. Welfare of the country is indeed part of the welfare for the people. Anything less is spitting on our Constitution. "We the People" We keep forgetting, "We the People" is paramount to everything else. Our constitution guarantees the country look out for the people and their interests. =============== 50% of all bankruptcies are due to medical bills 50% of those had medical insurance that ran out. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0202-08.htm =============== Many Americans do not have insurance, or the employer offered insurance they can not afford http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/04/26/MNGFEIFEGT1.DTL =============== THINK ABOUT IT =============== Life is so simple, but we insist on making it complicated Confucius 551 - 479 BC =============== Peace Jim . Source(s) Links on health care costs, fraud and countries comparisons http://www.kff.org/insurance/snapshot/chcm010307oth.cfm http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0815/is_10_28/ai_108994048 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_the_United_States#Administrative_costs http://thehill.com/the-executive/federal-investigators-recoup-2.2b-in-healthcare-fraud-prosecutions-2008-02-14.html .

It is so hard to find employment with good health care benefits it's incredible. All you can find out there is a part time job or a full time job where you would have to cough up half your paycheck just for the insurance. I can't afford to pay half my check for insurance so I'll go without. It's cheaper for me in the long run. I have had to see a doctor maybe 3 times in the last ten years. Cost each time was around $100. See how much money I saved?

So let me get this right, you are against universal healthcare, but you want to make employers provide healthcare for all. Look at the facts. We are facing a recession. Making employers pay for more is not going to help them. Also, remember, that at present, despite spending more money on healthcare PER PERSON than any other country in the world, the USA has one of the highest death rates for kids aged under five in the western world. Is that right? Look to western Europe, and learn.