You can walk into a doctor's office complaining of a stubbed toe, and be sent home with a bag-full of anti-depressants and nerve pills. Nobody wants to help you. They want to mask your symptoms with addictive pills that keep drug companies in business.

The few doctors who actually do want to help you have their hands tied behind their backs, as they can't do much for an uninsured person. Life-saving surgeries and procedures cost about as much as a brand-new car. Even with insurance, there are some ridiculously expensive co-pays on some of these procedures - if your insurance even covers any of it.

I can't imagine how it must feel to be diagnosed with a terminal illness, and the doctor says, "I'm sorry, but I can't do anything for you because you can't afford this procedure." Those who do find a way to go through with such procedures probably have to sell their homes and live with friends or relatives as they spend the rest of their lives paying off their medical expenses.

I need to have an MRI / CT done to determine what's going on with my nervous system, or possibly within my brain itself. Until I'm incredibly bad off, (abusing benzos just to survive the sensations I experience each day isn't quite rock-bottom) my doctor won't even provide the necessary referral for it. If and when I do get that referral, I have to find a way to dish out $10,000 or more to have it done.

This is a scenario of what it's like to be uninsured:

You: "I feel this shocking sensation in my spine. It feels like my nervous system is being overloaded. I feel dizzy from time to time, and it feels like my co-ordination is always off. I feel a constant fatigue. Sometimes, it feels like something is crawling up my spine. I have strange headaches, and it often feels like everything is surreal."

Doctor: "You're just depressed. Take this addictive, expensive anti-depressant that there are no generics for, and these nerve pills, and hurry out the door. I have 20 more people to fit into the next 30 minutes of my schedule."

1) Very few pills are addictive in the treatments given by doctors.

2) Pills *work*. Western medicine *works*. That ancient eastern all natural crap does *nothing*.

3) Why the hell are you going to a doctor with a stubbed toe, and why would you expect anything other than absent minded dismissal over something so incredibly trivial?



Vote for socialized health care then, or get a job and/or get insurance.



Sure you aren't drunk?

Zera, if you can figure out a cheaper way to safely generate and detect the absolutely minuscule electromagnetic signals given off than with giant electromagnets requiring large amounts of cryogenic fluid, be my guest. MRIs/CT scans aren't exactly easy to do from a technological perspective. That's ignoring the large amount of post-processing, staff training, and general maintenance that has to be done as well. The procedures are definitely overpriced, but they're not cheap in any reasonable sense either. The only reasons that they're cheaper anywhere else is because
1) America has ridiculously high wages and
2) Someone else is generally subsidizing those procedures.

Either way, someone ends up paying that full price. It almost always makes its way back to the taxpayers in some form or fashion.

We have enough disgustingly wealthy people to pay for all our healthcare and then some, we just need to f--king tax them instead of relying on this trickle-down bullsh!t.
What Zera is going through is unacceptable.

Yes, it is, but the economics of the situation are vastly more complex than you think. We also have enough disgustingly wealthy people to pay teachers a living wage and attract higher caliber individuals to the profession, but we don't. And I don't believe taxation is the answer to the problem - having a fair market where competition prevents any one person from ending up with that much money in the first place would go much farther towards having equitable distribution of wealth. So would teaching impoverished families about money management, so they don't blow their insurance money on a fleet of ATVs, home entertainment, and a cellphone-with-data-plan for every child.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioids
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine

Unfortunately, it's not easy to apply for insurance. I've looked into various applications, but they aren't accepting anyone who isn't under 21, or doesn't have children. If you don't meet those prerequisites, you're out of luck. My only hope would be to apply for SSI income, which would default me with some kind of insurance. Whether or not that insurance would cover something like an MRI / CT scan is beyond my knowledge. As my doctors have said: These procedures only tend to be covered by top-notch insurance, and sometimes there's still a co-pay involved.

Then why can't Republicans agree to f--king do that!?!?!?

Because F*** you, that's why.

But that would require an intelligent or fair market. I think we can both agree that such a scenario is probably far less realistic than even complete authoritarianism in America.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Ron_Paul#Economy

But see, and I know this isn't true for a few rich people, but they're not bad because they have tons of money. Money corrupts, yes, however many people who are rich earn that money. You could be rich too if you want to. Check out Dave Ramsey on the subject. In fact, 8/10 people are first generation millionaires.

Besides, the rich pay for most taxes anyway. The poor take out negative taxes, even. So basically, we're giving things to those who don't work, and taking from those who work hard.

Now I'm not foolish enough to say that every poor person is a lazy slob (on the contrary, I've found many are hard workers), nor am I going to say that all rich people have worked hard for it. However, those who are rich and don't work hard for it, are also not as likely to be able to manage and hold onto it. In other words, they might just lose it all. And again, I'm not just saying this is true for all people. Nor am I saying that wealth brings happiness or anything like that.

Anyway, TL;DR, I don't believe we should just try and tax the rich excessively like we already do.

I myself think we should as the rich can pretty much afford it, you know, with them going to 99Cents stores and such

Lol Qazz42.

Also, I forgot to add, I'm sorry for your condition Zera, and do hope you get the MRI you need. If not, I hope the alternative isn't a new winter coat...

Anyway, good luck!

The big problem ISN'T income disparity or work ethic. It's being able to manage the income you have. Look at the statistics on lottery winners and NBA players being broke again after an incredibly brief span of time in the top 1% income bracket.

You could think that, but then I would point out to you that I'm on the board of directors of a 501(c)3 that provides affordable and environmentally friendly heating for Vermonters who are at risk of freezing to death; and the webmaster for another 501(c)3 that provides education, medical care, and housing to Ugandan children (especially those who are orphaned as a result of HIV). And I don't like to sound holier-than-thou, but I really want to drive home the point that occasionally us nutjobs who go on about free markets, personal liberties, and voluntary personal/small-community responsibility actually mean what we say about responsibility, so I'll also tell you that our family has been audited by the IRS who were incredulous of the amount we give to charity every year and wanted to claim it in taxes.

This is from the same a-hole who says education isn't a right. The fact is, in a completely free market, the richest among us will always use their power to maintain and expand that wealth. We're already seeing this: The top 2% make more than half the money in the country, yet pay only 35% of the taxes. When all of the resources in a society go to a handful at the top, everyone else suffers. Have you people not heard of the French Revolution?

Taxing the rich more doesn't actually solve any of the problems we face (although adding back some of the super wealthy tax categories that were cut out over the years wouldn't be unwelcome - the highest tax bracket went from 90% in the 50s to 35% now). People in this country need to learn to manage money and *live within their means*.



Where on earth did you get those completely made up numbers?



The rich are paying their share relative to their amount of wealth. Actually, the top 1% pay *MORE* than their fare share, at least for federal income tax revenue.

That's all well and good, and I agree, people do need to live within their means. But since when has it been considered even remotely fair to base the right to live on income level? Furthermore, how are the poor and working class supposed to continue to live within their means when wages aren't rising with inflation? How many more people need to lose their homes, their livelihoods, and their lives before we say enough with this bullsh!t?

I'm lucky enough to be very healthy, and my family is very well off. As one of these people, I'm disgusted by our health care, and I'd be more than willing to pay a much larger portion of my family's income to taxes than those less well off would be paying.

My dad is of the same mind, even though we're probably not as well off.