Let me counter those questios with a few quesions of my own.
Just like Skip said - you ignore others' points and dont even realize when people counter your arguments with valid points.
What percentage of the the Tea Party marchers would you say receive ALL their information from FOX News?
Probably none. Most people get their information from a variety of sources, whether it be radio, tv, internet, newspapers, reading books, etc.
Additionally, most of the people at the tea party are protesting high taxes and devaluation of the dollar by the govts' reckless spending. That to me means most of them either have savings and/or earn income through employment. If most of these people are holding jobs, do they really have all day to sit around and watch Fox News all day as you say? Most likely not. Most probably have access to a computer at work or home while doing email and look at sites like I do, including politico, wsj, IBD, Drudge, Huffington Post, FR, DU, CNBC, etc.
So my answer to your question is probably none other than a few old people who are too old to do the internet and probably sit home all day.
How bad do you think American healthcare will be 10, 20 years into this depression if Obama does nothing?
Another Straw Man argument. No one is proposing doing nothing. However, there is nothing in the current bills being put forth that contain anything other than subsidies to the private carriers who can still raises prices to however high they like. So unless the govt gets the hell out of the way, things will get worse.
Finally, there is no free market in ObamaCare and prices will only continue to skyrocket since Obama, like other marxists, is completely ignorant on basic economics and does not understand that extisting govt involvement in health care both through direct regulation and the tax code is the primary cause for the massive inflation of health costs.
One last item, just look at the deal Obama made with the drug companies. He guarantees price inflation and no cost containment. so, if we do nothing, things will get worse, but if we adopt ObamaCare, it will be massively worse with no downward cost pressures whatsoever.
Will you be paying four imes your current premium? (Premiums have doubled on average over the last ten years and at this rate would double twice over during the next 20 years)
If nothing is done, yes, it will go up. The govts' refusal to do tort reform, refusal allow competition accross state lines, the govts' messing with the tax code, and the govts' mandating that all policies have to cover incidents most people will never use, ensures that there will be continued price increases on all premiums. The govt is the main cause of the inflation in medical costs.
Under Obamacare my premiums are guaranteed to increase by 4 times the current premium since Obamacare places new mandates on all existing policies that will further drive the costs up. By forcing companies to cover all sorts of new situations and capping the losses they can recoup, the increased costs will be passed along to existing policy holders.
Finally, and you probably are too inexperienced to grasp this, ObamaCare is going to force people to lose their current coverage since employers will be forced to drop coverage due to cost increases and new mandates. These people will be forced onto the "public option". With less enrollees, the insurance companies are going to be forced to spread their losses and costs over fewer policy holders, and hence, massive premium price increases.
What do you think the coverage denial rate will be in twenty years? 50%? (Consider the startling rate of increase in HMO/Insurance profits)
I have no idea.
As far as "insurance profits go", I dont have a problem with that. Insurance is a contract that I knowingly enter into whereby the carrier absorbs the massive risk of something bad happing to me, in return for for me paying a monthly premiuim. I dont see the problem with "profits" as you say so long as they uphold their end of the contract if I get hurt or sick.
I take your point about government inefficiency... but Medicare has a 3.5% overhead (HMOs/Insurance run at 30%) and works well enough that those who have it won't give it up. Why not simply extend Medicare to everyone (as Weiner proposes)? Why not cover the cost with a progressive tax so eveyone pays their share?
1. Medicare is already broke and simply not sustainable.
2. As far as overhead, its apples and oranges. Medicare does not have to advertise, hire compliance personell to deal with the govt, hire accountants, lawyers etc. I know what you really mean is that greedy executives should not be making money off of health care since that is the usual next argument when people bring up the overhead issue. Finally, Medicare does not have to be accountable to a bottom line and keep reserves for payment of claims.
America is already paying twice the cost of the best (French) healthcare system for the 37th best...
Ok, Lets see what they do an see if we can adopt some of what they do if we can fit it into our system.
-forking out $300 billion dollars a year in profits to insurers who provide NO SERVICE
That number is BS. Regardless, insurance is a contract that I and the carrier enter into. I pay a monthly premium and they agree to pay for claims for health care if I get sick. Lets say I sign up for the plan and two months later I get cancer or something like that. The carrier is now legally obligated to pay a fortune for my care while I have only paid a few hundred dollars. In that case they lose, in others they win. Thats how it works and I have no problems with that.
-denial of coverage rates are at 20% even for doctor approved treatment
Thats strange, all i hear is that doctors order unnecessary shit. In fact, Obama repeated this at least three times. If the govt says it does not want to pay for all of this, why should private companies either?
-62% of all personal bankruptcies in the US are due to medical bills
This is an outrage, and I hope something can be done about this somehow.
-78% of all those bankrupted by medical bills had FULL COVERAGE
Same as above.
-2 million Americans go bankrupt each year due to medical costs
Same as above.
-some 50 million Americans have NO COVERAGE
Pure nonsense. That figure is bs.
doctors can pay up to 50% of their (excessive) salaries in malpractice insurance
Why? The tort system is out of control leading doctors to practice what is known as defensive medicine which in itself drives up costs.
-those who can't afford tratment are pushed into poverty; crime
Speculation.
What have you got to lose?
Choice, control, money, etc.
