"Mole" wrote in message
...
I hear about these 50 million people and 11 million children all the time
from the liberals Harry. Is there a list of just who these people are or
did we just pull that number out our asses? That number come out of left
field one day from the likes of Ted Kennedy. Maybe he just counted the
empty vodka bottles in his yard? The last I checked hospitals HAVE to
service people (by law) no matter what their ability to pay. And there
are
many, many free clinics. So, once again, where is this list of people who
are without help?


"HarryKrause" wrote in message
...
John H wrote:
Surely Americans wouldn't find themselves in the same predicament if *we*
had
socialized medicine!


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/10/in...html?th&emc=th

[Extract]
" But in recent years patients have been forced to wait longer for
diagnostic
tests and elective surgery, while the wealthy and well connected either
sought
care in the United States or used influence to jump medical lines.

The court ruled that the waiting lists had become so long that they
violated
patients' "life and personal security, inviolability and freedom" under
the
Quebec charter of human rights and freedoms, which covers about
one-quarter of
Canada's population.

"The evidence in this case shows that delays in the public health care
system
are widespread, and that, in some serious cases, patients die as a result
of
waiting lists for public health care," the Supreme Court ruled. "In sum,
the
prohibition on obtaining private health insurance is not constitutional
where
the public system fails to deliver reasonable services."


We have close to 50 million Americans, including 11 million children,
who have no medical insurance and whose ability to obtain decent medical
care on any sort of basis is sketchy at best.



I wonder how many of these folks without medical insurance are self insured
or make a choice not to purchase insurance even though it is offered to
them. They are uninsured and are included in those without healthcare
coverage.

Regardless, the numbers being reported range anywhere from 13 million to 50
million. Do a google search if you don't believe me.

Naturally the higher number is better when trying to make a claim that we
are in a crisis mode with healthcare.

Go figure. ;-)

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 18:35:42 -0400, *JimH* wrote:


Naturally the higher number is better when trying to make a claim that we
are in a crisis mode with healthcare.

It seems to me that even if you have insurance, health care is in a crisis
mode. The 13-50 million uninsured are only a part of the problem. We
spend 15% of our GDP on health care, that's fully 5% more than the next
highest. That's a rather large competitive disadvantage to business in
the global market. In another thread, weren't you just complaining about
unions and their health care costs driving jobs offshore? Well, it isn't
just unions. It's any company that provides health care as part of their
package. Insured or not, union or not, American health care costs are
problematic.