What are the Republicans solutions to fixing: - Page 2

Originally Posted by Hands Sandon

The simple truth is that the poor in America are paying for the rich to have healthcare whilst they themselves go without.

Originally Posted by BR

Trumpet, he was prescribed the dose by his doctors and then the insurance company said they won't pay for anything but 1/4 or 1/2 of the dose prescribed because they feel that works just fine. That was one time. Other times, the insurance companies claimed they didn't have the right paperwork. They've claimed all sorts of things in order to stall, delay, and hopefully not pay for his shit. That's why the state of California has successfully sued one is about to sue the other. Stop trying to justify yourself in this situation. You can't.

Originally Posted by BR

Anyway, if what Trumpet says is true, and I highly, highly doubt it as it's consistent with his typical anti-government posturing, worst case scenario is for my friend here things remain the same while millions of other people get access to healthcare. I don't think it will be doomed to such an extent, but even then, that's far better than what we have now.

Originally Posted by BR

30% profit margins? Insane bureaucratic inefficiency for hospitals and doctors offices to get paid? Reduction in waste? There's plenty of money out there. Don't lecture me on how you can't get something for nothing.

Originally Posted by KingOfSomewhereHot

Please explain.

Originally Posted by Hands Sandon

"1 in 4 U.S. jobs pay less than a poverty-level income.

Originally Posted by Hands Sandon

51% of the uninsured are $2,000 or more in medical debt. 16% owe at least $10,000.

Originally Posted by Hands Sandon

Since 2000, the number of Americans living below the poverty line at any one time has steadily risen. Now 13% of all Americans37 millionare officially poor.

Originally Posted by Hands Sandon

Bushs tax cuts (extended until 2010) save those earning between $20,000 and $30,000 an average of $10 a year, while those earning $1 million are saved $42,700.

Originally Posted by Hands Sandon

2 in 5 elderly live on less than $18,000 a year, including Social Security benefits.

Originally Posted by Hands Sandon

The true jobless rate of black men in their 20s without a high school diploma is 72%

Originally Posted by Hands Sandon

Since 1983, college tuition has risen 115%. The maximum Pell Grant for low- and moderate-income college students has risen only 19%.

Originally Posted by Hands Sandon

Today, 1 in 4 sub-prime lenders are predatory, charging recipients 7% in up-front fees. Conventional or prime mortgage users are charged only 1%.

Nationwide, the number of payday lending outlets has risen 11,000% since 1990.

The average annual interest rate on a payday loan is more than 400%, costing borrowers $3.4 billion a year.

Credit card late fees are 194% higher than in 1994.

In 2004, 7 million working poor families spent $900 million on tax prep and check-cashing fees to get their refunds sooner."

Originally Posted by KingOfSomewhereHot

OK... I'm bored... so I'm gonna pick apart a few of these.


I used to have one of those jobs... but I still managed to pay health insurance premiums, buy food and pay rent... without ANY government programs.


How many of them wish they had decided to pay insurance premiums instead of buying that new car on a payment plan...


Because we keep raising the target for "poverty level" ... Americans who live at and below the "poverty level" would still be considered wealthy by most of the worlds standards. It's true... I've been to a lot of those places... it cured me of feeling sorry for U.S. welfare recipients. (I know... I'm a heartless bastard.)


No argument... So lets have EVERY person in the country pay a flat 15% ... NO loopholes, NO rebates, NO tax credits for ANYthing... just pay 15% (or 10%... or 20% ... pick number, and make everyone pay.)


Piss Poor Planning. They made some really bad decisions throughout their life and now want the tax payers to make it so they don't have to face the consequences of their own actions/decisions???? (I know... I'm a heartless bastard.)


I guess they should have stayed in school.


Colleges (even state universities) are a business... they charge what people will pay. If you don't like the price, then DON'T BUY THEIR PRODUCT... then watch their prices come back down. Contrary to popular belief, a college diploma is NOT a prerequisite for success in America. Sure, it helps, but it's not a necessity.



These could all fall under "should have payed attention in high school." But they'r rather be in debt than live within their means. Heartless bastards like myself have little sympathy for MOST of those people... MOST of them are in that position because of their own poor decision making skills.

Originally Posted by Hands Sandon

Because the systems set up so that lots of people can't afford health care. They don't earn enough! There low wages fuel the profits of the wealthy. It's that simple. The government steps in and give some of the poorest health care. So the government is subsidizing the profits of the wealthy. On top of that the health insurance companies are so evil that they scrounge whatever they can from those they insure by denying care and demanding more money for their rapidly expanding profits.

The top 300,000 wealthiest America's earn more each year than the entire bottom half of the population. That's 150,000,000 people. They each earn 440 times more than the average American wage. And they're getting richer still.

Here's some stats showing how poor the people who keep the system propped up really are-

"1 in 4 U.S. jobs pay less than a poverty-level income.

83% of those earning $75,000 or more work for companies that offer insurance, versus 24% of those who earn less than $25,000.

51% of the uninsured are $2,000 or more in medical debt. 16% owe at least $10,000.
During the 1980s, 13% of Americans age 40 to 50 spent at least one year below the poverty line; by the 1990s, 36% did.

Since 2000, the number of Americans living below the poverty line at any one time has steadily risen. Now 13% of all Americans37 millionare officially poor.

Among households worth less than $13,500, their average net worth in 2001 was $0. By 2004, it was down to $1,400.

Bushs tax cuts (extended until 2010) save those earning between $20,000 and $30,000 an average of $10 a year, while those earning $1 million are saved $42,700.

2 in 5 elderly live on less than $18,000 a year, including Social Security benefits.

The true jobless rate of black men in their 20s without a high school diploma is 72%

Since 1983, college tuition has risen 115%. The maximum Pell Grant for low- and moderate-income college students has risen only 19%.

Today, 1 in 4 sub-prime lenders are predatory, charging recipients 7% in up-front fees. Conventional or prime mortgage users are charged only 1%.

Nationwide, the number of payday lending outlets has risen 11,000% since 1990.

The average annual interest rate on a payday loan is more than 400%, costing borrowers $3.4 billion a year.

Credit card late fees are 194% higher than in 1994.

In 2004, 7 million working poor families spent $900 million on tax prep and check-cashing fees to get their refunds sooner."
~ http://motherjones.com/politics/2006/07/poor-losers

In 2006, the latest available year from CBO, the top 20 percent of income earners paid 86.3 percent of all federal income taxes, an all-time high.[1] This is an increase of over 6 percent from 2000, when the top 20 percent paid 81.2 percent. During the same period, the bottom four quintiles all saw their share of the federal income tax burden fall sharply:

The bottom 20 percent of income earners' share of federal income taxes fell from -1.6 percent in 2000 to -2.8 percent in 2006;
The next 20 percent's share declined from 1.1 percent to -0.8 percent;
The middle quintile's share dropped from 5.7 percent to 4.4 percent; and
The fourth quintile's share decreased from 13.5 percent to 12.9 percent.

Overall, the profit margin for health insurance companies was a modest 3.4 percent over the past year, according to data provided by Morningstar. That ranks 87th out of 215 industries and slightly above the median of 2.2 percent. By this measure, the most profitable industry over the past year has been beverages, with a 25.9 percent profit margin. Right behind that were healthcare real-estate trusts (firms that are basically the landlords for hospitals and healthcare facilities) and application-software (think Windows). The worst performer was copper, with a profit margin of minus 56.6 percent.

Originally Posted by stevegmu

You also failed to mention the 3.4% profit margins for insurance companies...