Originally Posted by mitchbr47

The beginning of this thread, the comment from Daschle caught my eye. I can give you a real scenario. My mother has been ill and passed away earlier this month. The explanation of benefits from medicare/ blue cross arrived yesterday. The bill was over $4600. Out of pocket expenses would be $0. I'm sure other bils from specialists with trickle in. Meanwhile, the average Joe before medicare but with healthcare would not have a zero bill. Think about it. If you are 96 years old you have been blessed and lived a pretty full life. Expensive surgeries at that age are not cost effective nor would the chances of surviving some procedures would be risky. So if two folks needed a kidney transplant- one was 16 and the other was 96 which recipient would more than likely enjoy quality of life from such a procedure.

I don't know about the accuracy of the 1/3 pay the taxes for the remaining 2/3. That would mean 200 million Americans get a free ride? I do know there are too many loopholes in the tax system that favor the wealthy. I wonder how those were added? We all need to make sacrifices. If you have been collecting medicare for awhile who do you think is footing that bill now that you are no longer working?
Speaking of politicians, how about a referendum that their pensions and medical coverage are in line with everyone else. The same goes for postal workers.
Lobbyist control our country. Big oil, insurance companies, the casino-like NYSE fueled on fear and greed, pharmaceutical companies, big banks. That doesn't even touch the issues with the Federal Reserve and the possible insolvency of the FDIC. It isn't a Democrat or Republican issue. Both wink and look the other way.

The sage advice of Ron Paul sounds better right now.