house Bill H.R. 676
Medicare for All: Should the U.S. Adopt a Single Payer Healthcare System?
Argument in favor
A single payer healthcare system is the best way to ensure that all Americans have access to the healthcare they need without having to worry about paying for health insurance. It would be more efficient than the status quo at controlling costs and produce better outcomes while bringing the U.S. in line with other developed nations with single-payer systems.
05/11/2017
Healthcare is a human right. Healthcare shouldn't depend on where you live and how much you make. Let's get America on par with all the other industrialized countries and go to a single payer system.
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05/11/2017
I support HR 676. The US needs single-payer healthcare. We are the leader of the free world and at the same time, we are drastically behind in taking care of our citizens. I find it immoral to offer government subsidies to for-profit industries like oil and coal while thousands of Americans die because they can't afford care, or go bankrupt from sky-high medical bills. We give BILLIONS of dollars to corporations in subsidies and tax breaks. Think we can't afford single-payer? Cut the government handouts to corporations and see how much money we save. I would bet we could fund healthcare and higher education at the same time. But that would mean politicians would have to stick up for their constituents instead of the special interests.
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05/11/2017
It is time the United States joined other top nations in providing health care to all it's citizens. A single payer system would eliminate the pocket lining insurance companies that are one of the biggest reasons behind the expense of healthcare today.
Argument opposed
A single payer healthcare system would concentrate too much power in the federal government, creating inefficiencies in the healthcare market. It would reduce physicians’ pay and consequently the quality of care they provide, and lead to long wait lists for patients to see their doctor — all while imposing a massive tax increase on middle class Americans.
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05/11/2017
UPDATED: The Socialist Solution vs. God's Solution
Countable member "TuckerWantsLiberty" said:
"NO. Health care is not a right. It is a need and a want but it is not a right. Survival value does not determine rights. Let's define a right: rights neither obligate anyone else to act nor may they be infringed upon. So things like speech and life and private property. For me to have these things does not require anything of you other than not to impede on them. Health care is not like that. It requires someone else to act. It requires physicians and medical equipment that someone had to pay for. Calling health care a right means that those MUST serve you. So it's not a right. Moreover, laws are not opinion polls. They are decisions on when it is acceptable to send men with guns to force you to comply. So this isn't about "is healthcare a good thing" or "Should everyone be able to get the care they need." That's not a question government is able to answer. The only question this legislation could ever possibly answer is "Should you be forced, whether you are willing or not, to pay for someone else?" This legislation says yes. I say no. Not because it's a bad thing to help people but because it's a bad thing to force people."
That's it in a nutshell! And that's partly why we need less Socialism/Communism and more Christianity! Socialists/Communists force you, but GOD gives you free will. You get to decide the who, what, when, where, how, and if of any desire you might have to help your fellow man. God says we're to love our "neighbor" as ourselves. He doesn't tell us how to express that love, though He does give us approved examples. Those examples mostly pertain to the Church's responsibility to help needy Christians, but it also teaches by example that individual Christians should be charitable towards strangers. Christ's parable of the Good Samaritan is a well known example (Luke 10:30-37 NKJV).
Christ also said:
"For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good...” (Mark 14:7 NKJV)
“...If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Matthew 19:21 NKJV)
As for how much we should give to help the needy Christians, there is no mention in the New Testament of a specific amount, nor is money specified as the only acceptable form of charity. Rather, the apostle Paul told the church at Corinth:
“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
(II Corinthians 9:7 NKJV)
"On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.”
(I Corinthians 16:2 NKJV)
So, we're told to give as we have prospered and we're to purpose in our heart.
The dictionary defines "purpose" thusly:
—verb (used with object), pur·posed, pur·pos·ing.
• to set as an aim, intention, or goal for oneself.
• to intend; design.
• to resolve (to do something): He purposed to change his way of life radically.
—verb (used without object), pur·posed, pur·pos·ing.
• to have a purpose.
The Bible also tells us the following:
"He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and He will pay back what he has given.” (Proverbs 19:17 NKJV)
“But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” (Hebrews 13:16 NKJV)
“But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (I John 3:17 NKJV)
So, if government forces us to help others by way of taxes, other fees, or penalties, we are more likely to pay those taxes "grudgingly or of necessity."
But if we have the love of God abiding within us, we are more likely to give help out of love and to do it cheerfully. And that's when our charity is pleasing to God!
___________________________________
HELL NO! HAVE YOU LIBERALS TOTALLY LOST YOUR MIND?!!! YOU MUST HAVE, IF YOU THINK THE SOCIALIST ROUTE IS THE WAY TO GO!
MAN! THANK GOD I GREW UP WHEN I DID! AMERICANS USED TO VALUE THE FREEDOMS THAT GOD GAVE US HERE IN THIS BLESSED COUNTRY!
THE GOAL OF SOCIALISM IS COMMUNISM! YOU GOT THAT?! CAN YOU GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULLS?! DO YOU REALLY WANT TO TURN OVER YOUR OWN PERSONAL AUTONOMY TO A GROUP OF ELITISTS, WHO WANT TO KEEP YOU IGNORANT AND COMPLIANT?! IT WASN'T BY ACCIDENT THAT THE GOVERNMENT STARTED DUMBING DOWN OUR STUDENTS! WAKE UP!
WE WILL HAVE A BETTER HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IF WE LET THE FREE MARKET COMPETE FOR OUR MONEY! WE ONLY NEED TO BE ABLE TO PURCHASE HEALTH INSURANCE ACROSS STATE LINES AND SUBJECT HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES TO ANTITRUST LAWS!
WE DO NOT NEED BIG BROTHER CARING FOR US FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE! THAT MAKES US LITTLE MORE THAN "PETS" - OR WORSE, SLAVES!!!
DON'T SET US ON THE ROAD TO SOCIALISM! THIS IS THE LAND OF THE FREE!!! YOU SHOULD BE READY TO FIGHT TOOTH AND NAIL TO KEEP IT FREE! SOCIALIZED MEDICINE WILL MARK THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR THIS NATION AS A FREE AND SOVEREIGN COUNTRY!
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05/11/2017
For all you who keep saying healthcare is a right, It may be your opinion that it should be, but that is just not the way it is. Nowhere in the constitution does it say that healthcare is a right. Universal healthcare will ruin the quality of care in our country, and consequently the rest of the world. You people know absolutely nothing about economics.
···
05/11/2017
Healthcare is NOT a right. I spent a year in Montreal and their healthcare system is crap. You have to get sick between 8am and 5pm. My friend there waited 3 days to see a doctor for his kids. Dump all of this fed supported healthcare. The democrats closed all the clinics. My healthcare cost doubled when OBAMACARE went into effect. Liberals want to put everyone on the dole.
Healthcare is a human right. Healthcare shouldn't depend on where you live and how much you make. Let's get America on par with all the other industrialized countries and go to a single payer system.
UPDATED: The Socialist Solution vs. God's Solution
Countable member "TuckerWantsLiberty" said:
"NO. Health care is not a right. It is a need and a want but it is not a right. Survival value does not determine rights. Let's define a right: rights neither obligate anyone else to act nor may they be infringed upon. So things like speech and life and private property. For me to have these things does not require anything of you other than not to impede on them. Health care is not like that. It requires someone else to act. It requires physicians and medical equipment that someone had to pay for. Calling health care a right means that those MUST serve you. So it's not a right. Moreover, laws are not opinion polls. They are decisions on when it is acceptable to send men with guns to force you to comply. So this isn't about "is healthcare a good thing" or "Should everyone be able to get the care they need." That's not a question government is able to answer. The only question this legislation could ever possibly answer is "Should you be forced, whether you are willing or not, to pay for someone else?" This legislation says yes. I say no. Not because it's a bad thing to help people but because it's a bad thing to force people."
That's it in a nutshell! And that's partly why we need less Socialism/Communism and more Christianity! Socialists/Communists force you, but GOD gives you free will. You get to decide the who, what, when, where, how, and if of any desire you might have to help your fellow man. God says we're to love our "neighbor" as ourselves. He doesn't tell us how to express that love, though He does give us approved examples. Those examples mostly pertain to the Church's responsibility to help needy Christians, but it also teaches by example that individual Christians should be charitable towards strangers. Christ's parable of the Good Samaritan is a well known example (Luke 10:30-37 NKJV).
Christ also said:
"For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good...” (Mark 14:7 NKJV)
“...If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Matthew 19:21 NKJV)
As for how much we should give to help the needy Christians, there is no mention in the New Testament of a specific amount, nor is money specified as the only acceptable form of charity. Rather, the apostle Paul told the church at Corinth:
“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
(II Corinthians 9:7 NKJV)
"On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.”
(I Corinthians 16:2 NKJV)
So, we're told to give as we have prospered and we're to purpose in our heart.
The dictionary defines "purpose" thusly:
—verb (used with object), pur·posed, pur·pos·ing.
• to set as an aim, intention, or goal for oneself.
• to intend; design.
• to resolve (to do something): He purposed to change his way of life radically.
—verb (used without object), pur·posed, pur·pos·ing.
• to have a purpose.
The Bible also tells us the following:
"He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and He will pay back what he has given.” (Proverbs 19:17 NKJV)
“But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” (Hebrews 13:16 NKJV)
“But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (I John 3:17 NKJV)
So, if government forces us to help others by way of taxes, other fees, or penalties, we are more likely to pay those taxes "grudgingly or of necessity."
But if we have the love of God abiding within us, we are more likely to give help out of love and to do it cheerfully. And that's when our charity is pleasing to God!
___________________________________
HELL NO! HAVE YOU LIBERALS TOTALLY LOST YOUR MIND?!!! YOU MUST HAVE, IF YOU THINK THE SOCIALIST ROUTE IS THE WAY TO GO!
MAN! THANK GOD I GREW UP WHEN I DID! AMERICANS USED TO VALUE THE FREEDOMS THAT GOD GAVE US HERE IN THIS BLESSED COUNTRY!
THE GOAL OF SOCIALISM IS COMMUNISM! YOU GOT THAT?! CAN YOU GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULLS?! DO YOU REALLY WANT TO TURN OVER YOUR OWN PERSONAL AUTONOMY TO A GROUP OF ELITISTS, WHO WANT TO KEEP YOU IGNORANT AND COMPLIANT?! IT WASN'T BY ACCIDENT THAT THE GOVERNMENT STARTED DUMBING DOWN OUR STUDENTS! WAKE UP!
WE WILL HAVE A BETTER HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IF WE LET THE FREE MARKET COMPETE FOR OUR MONEY! WE ONLY NEED TO BE ABLE TO PURCHASE HEALTH INSURANCE ACROSS STATE LINES AND SUBJECT HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES TO ANTITRUST LAWS!
WE DO NOT NEED BIG BROTHER CARING FOR US FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE! THAT MAKES US LITTLE MORE THAN "PETS" - OR WORSE, SLAVES!!!
DON'T SET US ON THE ROAD TO SOCIALISM! THIS IS THE LAND OF THE FREE!!! YOU SHOULD BE READY TO FIGHT TOOTH AND NAIL TO KEEP IT FREE! SOCIALIZED MEDICINE WILL MARK THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR THIS NATION AS A FREE AND SOVEREIGN COUNTRY!
I support HR 676. The US needs single-payer healthcare. We are the leader of the free world and at the same time, we are drastically behind in taking care of our citizens. I find it immoral to offer government subsidies to for-profit industries like oil and coal while thousands of Americans die because they can't afford care, or go bankrupt from sky-high medical bills. We give BILLIONS of dollars to corporations in subsidies and tax breaks. Think we can't afford single-payer? Cut the government handouts to corporations and see how much money we save. I would bet we could fund healthcare and higher education at the same time. But that would mean politicians would have to stick up for their constituents instead of the special interests.
It is time the United States joined other top nations in providing health care to all it's citizens. A single payer system would eliminate the pocket lining insurance companies that are one of the biggest reasons behind the expense of healthcare today.
Healthcare is a right. It may not have been back when the constitution was written, back when blood-letting for bad humours and phrenology was all the rage, but every other first world country recognizes that it is an integral part of the health and welfare of the nation. It's long overdue that the US should recognize that as well. It will happen, as Winston Churchill said, "America always does the right thing, after exhausting all other options." We have run out of options. This is not a problem with a free market solution. I don't go shopping for healthcare in the midst of a health crisis for the best quality at the price I can afford, like a car or a coat. I want the best quality, period. Providing guaranteed coverage to all Americans means that once again, we take care of one another as fellow Americans and not treat one another with suspicion and think that people are lazy or have made bad decisions in their lives to end up with a medical condition. It's time to put the silly arguments aside that we've heard this week from representatives, saying outrageously ridiculous things like no one has ever died from a lack of healthcare or we only want to take care of those who have led good lives. Let's put the petty selfishness behind us and take care of one another as a country should. Universal healthcare. Step up and be a citizen. Take care of America.
Some of us are getting a little crazy with our typing in all caps and not understanding the facts...even if some healthcare plans become cheaper than others, there are still plenty of low income individuals who can't afford them and since the GOP has a hard time understanding why people shouldn't be discriminated against for pre-existing conditions, we need a Medicare-for-all type plan where everyone is covered. It's sad that republicans feel like anyone should be able to own a gun and shoot people with it but that then the injured shouldn't have access to adequate healthcare for being shot. People die regularly because they can't get adequate care. It's been that way for a very long time, before ACA, and it's time to make a change.
Single payer saves families and house holds more money than any other system. The current system is there only to funnel money to ceos and companies that make campaign contributions to you people. These executives add no value nor do you.
For all you who keep saying healthcare is a right, It may be your opinion that it should be, but that is just not the way it is. Nowhere in the constitution does it say that healthcare is a right. Universal healthcare will ruin the quality of care in our country, and consequently the rest of the world. You people know absolutely nothing about economics.
We all should have the security and freedom not to worry about medical bills.
Yes. It's proven to work. Why must this be a partisan issue? Don't we ALL need healthcare?
Healthcare is NOT a right. I spent a year in Montreal and their healthcare system is crap. You have to get sick between 8am and 5pm. My friend there waited 3 days to see a doctor for his kids. Dump all of this fed supported healthcare. The democrats closed all the clinics. My healthcare cost doubled when OBAMACARE went into effect. Liberals want to put everyone on the dole.
Health care is a right not a priviledge. The reason we live in society is to take care of eachother. We all have a social contract (the philosophies of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes which this country is based upon) that we all signed to HELP eachother. We can take care of ourselves in a state of nature but we left that for this and we all have to keep our end of the deal.
Medical care is a human right. Corruption will not go away until no one can benefit as a result of kickbacks from the healthcare businesses.
Question: Where has single payer healthcare been adopted and then repealed because it was so unpopular or disastrous? Answer: NOWHERE.
Like all of the other first world countries, Americans should have comprehensive or even single payer medical insurance. If the GOP and President Trump are determined to repeal the ACA, our only option is to replace it with something better.
This is not a $64,000 question. This makes sense. There is not one free market health care system that has ever worked. The USA has poor outcomes and outrageous prices. This is the single most important question that this country should address. Our politicians are too busy fighting and trying to take health care away from us. It's nauseating.
Why should the middle class have to pay more taxes so everyone else can receive health care needs? Everyone should have to pay for there own insurance or health services that they need.
If Republicans passed single payer, they may actually have a chance to redeem themselves and get reelected
We're only 60 years behind the rest of the first world. Maybe if we ask nicely, and do it while we still *have* allies, we could get some good advice about how to make a national system work.