Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Ali Vatter Matter...

The matter at hand is healthcare and how like millions of Americans out there, Ali Vatter can't get health insurance. Due to a pre-existing condition, Ali has been denied NUMEROUS times for health insurance. She is even willing to pay whatever it takes, and still no companies will insure her.
While working on tour with Blink 182 and Fallout Boy, she was feeling ill and was rushed to the hospital. After twelve hours of numerous testing, the doctors eventually discovered that she needed her appendix out immediately. As the tour continued on, Ali had to stay behind in Tampa, Florida all alone, get surgery and stay in the hospital to heal for 3 days.
Now, you may be thinking, no big deal, appendix surgery is easy, blah blah blah... BUT what you may not realize is that all the tests and hospital stay cost her $ 42,850!
If she was able to get health insurance, which she had tried to do numerous times, The total cost would have been thousands of dollars less. But that is not the case. Ali is a victim of discrimination along with 12.6 MILLION non-eldery Americans! Check out this site to learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/denied_coverage/coveragedenied.pdf

We decided that with everything Obama is trying to accomplish right now, it wouldn't hurt to have another voice to let America know that we need to CHANGE our healthcare system.

If you have any feelings about this issue, please feel free to write to: thealivattermatter@gmail.com. We will post entries we feel help this cause and hopefully can get some really good stories that could potentially change people's minds in Washington!

If you would like to help out Ali Vatter and the millions of people that are discriminated against, PLEASE give what you can! Click the donate link and please give what you can so we can help Ali pay her bill. Hopefully, we can cover the whole thing and whatever is left over can go to another uninsured person who is in need.

We would like to think of this as The Uninsured Relief Fund! (Thanks Brock;)

So.... Please contribute to a great cause, email your thoughts and lets change the way our healthcare system works so everyone can get healthcare and not go broke!

Thanks for listening!



38 comments:

  1. This also happened to my sister when she was diagnosed with cancer. I don't know the answer but something needs to change. Sorry I couldn't give more right now Ali but I hope lots of others chip in too. Good luck!

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  2. It's a problem, but government-run healthcare is not the answer.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. BennyC...they aren't proposing government run health care. Please do some research before opposing something you don't understand.

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  5. I honestly feel you as far as this is concerned. My mother has been unable to get adequate health care due to a pre-existing condition as well and has a looming hospital bill my family is attempting to pay off. I'll try to help however I can and spread the word.

    PS: I found out about you through Mark Hoppus' twitter.

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  6. I live in the United Kingdom, and after reading your story it makes me think how lucky us Brits are to have the NHS! I wasn't aware how much it is for you guys in the States to get treatment and how much you had to go through to get health insurance.

    I'll try to help however I can. All the best.

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  7. This is absolutely outrageous! I work in a billing department and I often hear patients who have cancer talking about how as soon as they were diagnosed, their insurance companies dropped them. What is the POINT of having insurance if they just DROP you when you get sick?!?! I can't even afford insurance. I have bills in collection because insurance is too expensive, but so is being a cash patient. My husband got a wound on his hand so deep he needed to go to the E.R. The doctor didn't even WASH OUT his cut - he just looked at it and said "we can't put stitches there it will hurt too much. I will send the nurse in to glue it". The nurse came in, glued the cut shut and put steri-strips over it. Not once did someone look in the cut for pieces of metal or dirt or ANYTHING. Then I got the bill in the mail... $1,000.00 for a NURSE to put GLUE on my husband's hand. I could have done that at home with some crazy glue for about $3.75! Don't get me wrong the nurse was nice, but a thousand dollars to glue a cut together and not even wash it first? The health care system in America is so screwed up it's disgusting. And I know, I work in billing. I deal with insurance companies denying claims every day for the dumbest reasons just so they don't have to pay anything! It's sickening and I hope that Ali's cause raises awareness for this outrage!

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  8. donated 5 bucks.... not much but I hope it helps...

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  9. this is really sad. hope you get better and get your bills paid.

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  10. How can I help? I too am uninsured and I understand how she must feel. How do I donate?

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  11. I have lived in the UK all my life and can categorically say that our national health system is excellent. Please dont believe the BS that is being fed to you from the fat cat money grabbers in America that dont believe in non discriminatory healthcare system, where it doesn't matter what pre-existing conditions you have, where you can go and have tests done without worrying about how you can pay for it. They simply want to keep taking money from you for something that should be a god given right as a human being not a privelege!! The service we receive in the UK is second to none. Thanks to the NHS my dad is still alive today. Seriously guys its a no-brainer!

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  12. can we have updates on how much has been raised?

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  13. i get free health care, but that's because my company pays for it. i think we need change in the health care system, but more government intervention is not the answer.

    in america, we're all individuals. forcing others to pay for my health care isn't right.

    we've not had a free market health care system in 50 years. because of this, the cost of health care has risen dramatically while free market solutions have dropped significantly.

    i think it's good for people to donate out of charity to help others, but forcing them with laws, bills, social programs, etc... is wrong.

    i'm more than happy to donate to ali's bill and i hope she has a speedy recovery.

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  14. i know exactly what your going through ive been doing it for the past two weeks but through the surgerys they still cant figure out whats wrong. i recently turned 20 and i to dont have insurance because i think the goverment has expectations for people who deserve it. i hope everything goes well with you and you are able to pay this. i wish i could help. good luck.

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  15. This is beyond insane. I live in Italy and our health care system is partially covered by the government; without it, my husband and I wouldn't be able to afford infertility treatments. I'll spread the word.

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  16. Canada is lookin pretty good right now.

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  17. wow this is tuff.. think about it.. we get sick and it costs alot of money but some of us dont have alot so we get suck with a 50,000 bill that sucks so hard... but how many times have you gone to the dmv and it takes forever or gone to medicare and it sucks ass.. our post office is going out of business do to poor management... i think health care ran by the govenment would rock if they could do it right but ummm that cant do anything right.. where do we get the money to pay for all this... i dont know.. we are in debt as a nation and how can we pay for everyone.. the answer is we cant.. we need to stop spending and open up the free market.. let competion run it right now its not that way govement regulation stops us from getting insurance from out of our state so we are left with only a few choices... i dont have health care for me and my family and it scares me alot.. but what scares me more is the USA spend money we dont have.. and yes cutting back in our military would be a good idea and other goverment pograms anyway... i hope you get the money you need.. i wish we had all the answers.

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  18. Re: the earlier comment that this is not about government-run healthcare—when words such as “prohibit” and “required” are thrown around, make no mistake, the government is running things.

    What is her pre-existing condition? If she’s ‘willing to pay whatever it takes’ she could have put that monthly amount into a private money market account (The healthcare bill for a family such as mine is $6540.96 a year), so less than 6 years would cover a major emergency such as this. More government isn’t always the answer—she pays Medicare in her taxes, change that system and extend that coverage to people like her. One out of many options, I know, but we don’t all want the government dictating our healthcare, some of us can and want to make these decisions for ourselves independent of the government (we the people).

    It’s an unfortunate situation; there are millions like them from all aspects of life…but ‘our’ healthcare is just that—ours. Once we give it to the government, we are no longer responsible for the husbandry of this aspect of our lives. The choices a ‘healthy’ person makes is (should be) different than the choices that someone less healthy makes—but I see this as rarely the case. There will always be exceptions, just as Congress’s plan won’t cover every single person; there will always be someone who falls through the cracks—we should focus on giving individuals the means to procuring their own healthcare (deregulation and extending Medicare would be one ‘means’).

    Is it really a tragedy though? She received amazing healthcare, stayed in the hospital as long as needed, is healthy again--can you really put a price tag on that? Yes, actually you can; it’s $42,000. And that’s a lot of money. It’s too much money for a millionaire with great intentions to pay, evidenced by Mark’s declaration to match what other people donate instead of paying it all himself—it’s much easier to pay for things with other people’s money. This problem doesn’t go away just because we “require” other, nameless, faceless people to pay the bills for us. No amount of reason can change the fact that “high-risk pools generally charge significantly higher rates than they charge for a healthy individual in the individual insurance market.” Is this supposed to show bias—or does it reflect what is widely known; that more expensive conditions cost more money to treat—can we not all agree that this statement is true? Closing our eyes doesn’t make the world disappear, and the fact that it costs $42,000 doesn’t go away when we mandate that we all pay the bill; some more than others. And I have bills of my own.

    They allow payments don’t they? Anyone has access to healthcare—which is different than health coverage. You just have to prioritize your resources (as I said earlier about healthy people versus non-healthy)—we’re all different and must organize our lives to reflect this. Unfortunately, some of you are unable/unwilling to do this, so you seek others to do it for you. We (yes, I include myself as someone you seek) have tried our best, evidenced in emergency care given to anyone, anytime, for anything, regardless of your ability to pay; Medicare, charity, and the thousand other programs available. You just can’t get something for nothing—at least, that’s what I think, but I’m sure many of you can think up a few reasons why I must be the one person out of 6 billion on this planet that feels this way. I look forward to reading them…

    However, we are lucky to live in a society that believes in charity (America is the single greatest contributor of charitable donations in the whole world)—that’s another aspect of ‘healthcare’ that could be expanded—individual charity, such as this! It works, and would work better than a government mandate because charity targets those who really need the help, not blanket coverage that allows charlatans to pilfer the pots that are no longer overflowing in this country.

    I hope her recovery goes well.

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  19. I had my appendix out when i was 14. there were numerous complications and i stayed in the hospital for '21 days'. it cost my mum $120,000.

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  20. A friend recently posed the question: “Should we put a price tag on life?”. Our loved ones are priceless in our eyes. Yet Mt. Everest has shown that some expeditions were deemed too expensive to abandon in order to save the lives of less fortunate climbers. Whether we like it or not there is a price tag on life. Individually or as a whole, we can only afford so much. Do you give all your money to all charities? It depends on your personal means and priorities. Should you feel guilty every time you eat ice cream or buy your kids new shoes, because there are starving kids somewhere else in the world? Certainly it is good to sacrifice some selfish desires to help others and be a good samaritan. Yet there needs to be a balance. Our human nature might backlash into a rash embrace of over self indulgence, if we don’t allow ourselves some guilt free pleasures.

    Would you be upset if a friend forced you to join their church and/or donate to their favorite charity? Yet we do this all the time when it comes to government. Which state religion might be in power may change, but we’re all re-baptized willingly or not when that does happen. It’s time to change this, and limit government to its original role of establishing liberty and justice for all, rather than enslaving us all to the combined special interests (the state religion) of the whole.

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  21. My name is Matt, I'm 23 now. Ten years ago i was diagnosed with a Tethered Chord, sounds like some kinda weird industrial/metal hybrid band doesn't it? It actually means when I was was developing in the womb a piece of tissue wrapped it's self around my spine. 13 years passed before the symptoms of this really started showing. Symptoms ranging from constant bladder infections, loss of bladder control, complete nerve loss to different areas of the body...these are some of the symptoms. After multiple doctors visits, multiple tests (including a couple MRI's) I was finally diagnosed, like I said, with Tethered Chord. This meant immediate surgery. First my neurosurgeon need to check for a few other things that might complicate the surgery. This was my second diagnosis, I needed to have a Chiari. Now, keep in mind I was young... I have no idea what that really means. Honestly, I could look it up for you and tell you exactly what it is, but that would completely distract me from the purpose of this email. It's the internet... I'm pretty much a 5 year old on crack, I won't finish this email if i go to another page to look something up. Anyway, basically having a Chiari means that if they were to go into my lower back to fix the Tethered Chord without correcting The Chiari first, it would literally suck my brain into the back of my neck... Trust me that's not as awesome of a sci-fi movie plot as you'd think it would be. So before I have a major surgery fixing the Tethered Chord I must first have a major surgery surgery correcting the Chiari. This first surgery happened a week after the Chiari diagnosis. I took about a month to heal from the major surgery on the back of my head ( yeah, I have some awesome scars), then I went under the knife again for the Tethered Chord Surgery. Obviously I survived... or maybe the sci-fi plot thickened and turned me into a zombie... I'll never tell. So both surgeries left me in the hospital 7 days each, both surgeries had 3 days in the ICU, 4 days in a regular room, lots of pain killers ( and a lot of stoned flirting with the nurses, showing bar tricks with Gatorade cans, apparently being zonked out of my mind turns me into a Casanova!), as well as a ton of anti-biotic. That was all just staying at the hospital. Coming home; I needed more pain meds, more anti-biotic, stool softeners, more MRI's, a couple of VCUG's... the latter is not a fun test. Keep in mind; because of the nerve damage being, well... nerve damage, the symptoms that started this whole process don't go away. The only thing the surgeries prevented was paralysis and eventually death. Honestly, yeah, I'll take the lasting symptoms. So to help with the loss of nerves, especially with the bladder control and other issues, it was back to the doctors. Seeing a urologist, my new path in life consisted of constant anti-biotic to cut of the bladder infections and self catherization... also not a fun thing, as well as taking oxybutnin to help the bladder expand so that urine wont flow back into my kidneys causing a kidney infection. This is my life currently. I have to self-cath every time I use the restroom ( that means number 1's, number 2's would be awkward and messy ) I'm supposed to be on anti-biotic and the oxybutnin constantly, but after talking to a couple of different doctors it was deemed unnecessary, I just needed to self-cath and work out a daily routine for bathroom habits (that's right I control when I urinate. Screw you body, I'm in control!) Can you see the escalating medical costs developing?

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  22. Luckily the surgeries and, for the most part, the expenses of the after math happened when I was young, I was covered under my mom's insurance and was well taken care of. Until I turned 18. I come from an amazing family who has for the most part helped me pay for everything, but I had to stop getting my yearly MRI and VCUG, literally stop the doctors appointments, I have to order my catheters myself. Catheters are the least expensive thing on the list, they are a necessity usually the cost for them is anywhere from $100 to $150 depending on type and quantity ordered. Even with the one job I had insurance through I was able to afford only minimal care. I can't get insurance on my own, like Ms. Vatter, I have a pre-existing (and expensive) medical condition. So what do I do?
    A couple of years back, 2006, I met my ex-fiance in New York City. We were both on vacation, me coming from Texas, she came from Scotland. Suffice to say, we fell in love... hard, I mean I dove off that cliff, swan dived all the way pulled a jack knife half way through and eventually hit the rock bottom. We were together for two years, this meant several visits to the UK for me and several visits to the US for her. What struck me as amazing while I was there was the Universal Health care. Yes, you pay a higher tax for it but with my back ground and view on life it was well worth it! I wanted to move there! Don't get me wrong, I love America! I think we are amazing as a people, but seeing how well I would have been taken care of medically there, well I didn't really have an option. I'm an American, and I can't afford to stay alive in America... What logic is this? The UK is set up to almost zero individual cost, meaning if something were to happen and I needed a surgery or a hospital stay anything, the fact that I pay a higher tax ensures that that hospital stay cost me nothing. My medications that I can't afford here cost me 6 pounds each there. I'm pretty sure the catheters were free as well. Doctors visits, tests, everything... little or no cost to me.
    I hear this argument about reformed health care being a socialist Nazi idea, and it's ridiculous. Are you kidding me, millions of people like me; better or worse off, can't get the help they need because you're scared of a Nazi America? Yet, we still discriminate with race, religion, homosexuality, class, or gender. I think that shows more of a downward spiral of society than reformed health care. Socialist ideas exist in present day America... everyday. Ranging from the educational system to the weekly, bi-weekly trash pick up outside your house. These are all forms of socialist ideas, I see no concentration camps, mass genocide... We as a growing populace need this, we as a modern progressing society need this. It's such a kick to the stomach to see that the only thing that really holds us back as a species is fear. Fear of death, fear of history, fear of the unknown, fear of the future, fear of chances, fear of being human.

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  23. I am a musician, an UN-employed musician to be exact. I live in San Antonio, Texas; a place known for it's medical facilities. I have within a 10 mile drive, every chance of a normal well productive healthy life, and I can't take up that offer. Stem cell research is a shining example. Developing stem cell research and using that knowledge as an altruistic application to man would, I believe, completely cure me. Regenerate the nerves, I would be a normal human being. Health care reform would allow me to see that goal to fruition when and if the time comes. I can guarantee you right now, if the stem cell development ever gets to the level of being able to actually cure me, among millions. Without health care reform I will never see the benefit. Ever. Like I said, I'm a musician. I didn't go to college, I work crappy jobs to fulfill my dreams of music. I'm a bit of a realist, I know that most likely my love of music won't take me to fortune and fame, but I'm doing what I love. I figure if something were to happen, say I were to get sick and couldn't afford to get better, at least I'll have had my music. At least, I'd have had my chance to do what I love.
    I grew up on Blink-182... I idolized Tom and Mark ( Tom is still the only guy in the world I would totally make out with... OK and Brad Pitt I guess, cause well, it's Brad Pitt. I'm not gay but that is a good looking guy! ) They are the people that got me into music, fueled my love for it. Shaped me into the musician I want to be, turned me onto amazing bands like Screeching Weasel, The Ramones, Mr. T Experience, The Vindictives, NoFX, etc. They got me into punk-rock. I love them for it! That's the music I play, like I said; I won't get paid well for it. Being a musician also means that I need to sacrifice to keep living my dream, hence not being able to find a well paying job, as well as not having the means to support my medical problems. I know it's dumb, I should take care of myself and my future, but this is America and it was branded into me as a child that it is MY American right to fulfill my dreams. It seems like a lie to me to be promised something like that and not given the means to do so.
    Mark's tweet about Ms. Vatter is what got me into writing this email. I know what you're going through... on top of the uninsured expenses and costs of medication and doctors visits and everything else; I too had my appendix removed. UN-insured. Mine racked up a $30,000 dollar bill. Not as bad as $42,000 but I like to think we have at least a little in common.
    As much as I'd love to send monetary aid, I don't have that money. I am currently looking for a job... trying not to go back to fast food, but it may be my only option. I'm sorry that all I can give is my empathy, and you DO have it, I would love to help out in anyway that I can. I know what you're going through first hand, I relate to it and I think it's amazing that you have Blink-182 as a platform to help you. However, to me it would be more amazing if you didn't need them. If the Government would step in and take care of it's citizens. Once again, my question is: why are they not? Why is this such a problem, and why can people not see past themselves in this world? Like I said, I wish you the best. I know I have sort of a sense of humor about my life and the turns it takes, I've developed that. It's better to laugh then to wallow... and no one likes an EMO (heh). If there is anything I can do otherwise, a petition to sign, a speech to make... a person to beg to... feel free to let me know. WE as a nation need to take care of each other, THEY as a Government need to provide us with a means to do so.
    Thank you, for reading all of this, if you did. This is sort of my position on the health care system of today. Once again, all the best!
    Matthew San Antonio, Texas

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  24. I'm blown away by the callousness and idiocy of some of these comments. Health care should not be a privilege - it should be available to all people... especially those with health problems - DUH! and yes, this IS a real tragedy – BECAUSE SHE HAS CHRONIC HEALTH PROBLEMS WITH NO HEALTH INSURANCE!! Get it?!
    Private health insurance companies are focused on one thing and one thing only – making the big bucks. They don't care that cancer patients need expensive surgeries or medications...they can cancel a policy at any time and for any reason - or with no reason if they think they can get away with it. They don't care that Matt was born with a rare condition that requires expensive tests and (God forbid) experimental treatments - they can turn him down for coverage! But according to some heartless bastards commenting here it's your tough luck, buddy.... Hey- don't worry though, by “prioritizing your resources”, you can have that $30,000 hospital bill paid off in a mere 5-6 years, right? You don't need a car, you don't really ever need to own a home or get married or have kids, do you?...just don’t get sick again, that's all! Oh, and don’t forget to sock all that extra cash you have into your private money market account…

    I hate to inform certain posters here, but who do you think pays for those "anyone, anywhere, anytime" ER visits? We. All. Do. Why do you think our insurance premiums go up every year? Why do you think a three day hospital stay costs $42,000? I work in an emergency room and easily 50% of the patients we see are either underinsured or have no insurance and no PCP….

    Ali Vatter, I’m so sorry for your plight. I wish, hope and pray we will have a public health option soon. And Matt, I hope stem cell research is expanded and the religious right gets out of politics once and for all. Read Dawn Smith’s story at www.itcouldhappentoanyone.com. I think you will find it very inspiring.

    One last thought..I’m sorry that certain posters feel they have to turn this request for help into a right wing diatribe against public health care. Please…save it for the Fox News network blogs...

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  25. The whole system is screwed up....i am lucky, i have great health care now through my job, my girlfreind owns a smal business and cant get healthcare for the same prexisting crap, she never goes to the doctor except in an emercency and it always costs an arm and a leg if she does, it is wrong. i used to work in the music biz and one of the reasons i quit was never being able to get health care. hope the donation helps.

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  26. I am a dual uk/us citizen who lives in the UK, and I can categorically state that the NHS in the UK is great. Of course, nothing is perfect, but I've been able to take care of things as they arise here vs putting off care in the past in the US because I could not afford it. And the care is good, despite what people in the states who have never even lived here would lead you to believe.

    and as to the whole "people should keep themselves healthy, blah blah" thing... I agree with altrockRN in thinking its' very unfortunate that many people in the US believe that health care is a privilege, and not a human right.

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  27. Just donated a couple bucks. I know every bit helps though!!

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  28. I donated ten dollars. I hope it helps. It's really all I can afford. Once I start to sell my CD's I swear I will donate more. - Scott (myspace.com/ordinaryisland)

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  29. altrockRN's comments against some posters don't make much sense to me. Insurance companies may be after big bucks", but what business isn't? Who's to say that a government monopoly on health care isn't after your money as well? They certainly wouldn't have to earn a profit just to stay in business. They wouldn't really have to care either except for the occasional election and rare chance that a government social program gets cancelled once it's given near eternal life to begin with. Yes you might enforce quality by performance measures, but we've seen how efficient, and time well-spent such evaluations have been in public schools regarding teacher evaluations. What ever happened to the goodness of the free market and voluntary exchange people?!! Haven't you ever read Adam Smith? Oh I forgot, they probably don't require that in college anymore, but they probably require Karl Marx and other hate free market B.S. What is so evil about insurance companies not accepting everyone? They have to make money too. If they took on people with preexisting conditions, then they would have to jack up premiums for everyone. Just because some people are uninsurable, doesn't mean that the world is going to end. Plus the number of uninsured has been way inflated by the liberals -- read Glenn Beck's "Arguing With Idiots" on how the more likely number of 4 million has been inflated to 40 million by liberals pushing universal health care. Reminds me of the whole stem cell research issue and people in Hollywood crying out for any research to save lives -- even the unethical or questionable research when there were ethical alternatives. In that case the whole outcry was "Oh my goodness people are going to die unless we do something!!!!!" Well gentle reader, people have been dying since Adam. Get over it. Crap happens, life isn't fair, some people are too stupid to know that hot coffee burns when spilled, health care isn't perfect. Still the U.S. has the best health care in the world and we shouldn't bury it under a bunch of dung just because of a bunch of whining socialists. And don't quote some nonsensical infant mortality rates to try to make Europe look like fantasyland when it comes to quality care. Just because more infants die here in the U.S. has nothing to do with the quality of our care. Lifestyle, environment and other factors have led to far more reported premature births in the U.S. We're even honest enough to report infant deaths that other countries deem as undersized miscarriages. We also have demographics (e.g. blacks) that statistically have higher infant deaths. Infant or otherwise, death stats aren't necessarily directly correlated with quality of care. They correlate more directly with the lifestyle of the demographic in question. My wife has a friend who grew up in U.K. and now lives here. She still has relatives there and she knows that socialized medicine is crud compared to what we still have here. Let's get some real health care reform like tort reform and dropping cross state limitations of buying private health insurance. We don't need a government monopoly on health care that kills the free market and ensures that everyone has to get cruddy lowest common denominator care

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  30. Oh and I forgot to reply to mj's comment about health care being a right and not a privilege. First of all, health care is already universal here -- i.e. anyone can get treatment, but they might have to pay for it out of pocket. The "universal health care" that liberals tout is really just socialized medicine. Second of all socialized entitlements are not rights, nor ever could be. Rights are liberties naturally endowed by birth, not duties shackled on us from cradle to grave. What you call rights aren't rights unless you prefix them with "duty" and make a new word "dutyrights" (Pflichtrechten if there is such a word). Then you fall into the liberal trap of feeling guilty about even existing. They want you to feel like you're indebted to society for this that and the other thing. They have to justify all their taxes somehow. For heaven's sake these communist liberals are already trying to make us feel guilty for having children, breathing, farting etc. if it produces some carbon dioxide. As in the new documentary "Not Evil Just Wrong", if such zero population quacks really wanted to make a difference they'd move all their environmental activism to China where they're really polluting the air.

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  31. Thank you nikolaus6! I’ve been waiting for someone to quote Glenn Beck (What a great name for a book – but then he is an expert in idiots...) I guess 4 million uninsured is an acceptable number for the far right, but I think for the average person with an iota of compassion and concern for fellow humans this number is an outrage. Yes, as you so delicately point out,”crap happens”, and people die. It’s how and why a person dies that makes all the difference. Dying from a disease process despite receiving treatment is a misfortune. Dying from a disease process because your insurance company cancelled your policy and you couldn’t afford the medication/treatment that could keep you alive is criminal. When we are dealing with human lives (even someone like Beck who is one step below human...), profits should not be considered. Money should not be the driving force behind life and death medical decisions. There should be an OPTION to purchase health insurance from a not-for –profit entity (ummm-like the government?) And this would make you fall into the “liberal trap of feeling guilty” how, exactly? By all means continue paying through the nose for your health insurance…who’s stopping you?

    As far as the US having the “best healthcare in the world”, I hate to tell you but we are actually ranked 37 by the WHO…just below Andorra and Malta. Hmm…interesting that all those psycho commie pinko bleeding heart liberal trap socialized medicine countries top the list...

    View an amusing overview of that report at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/12/781119/-Were-Number-37.

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  32. Well thank you Nikolaus6 for your information. I was suprised to see someone quoting Glenn Beck as an author and news source when infact he is an entertainer ( from his own admission, by the way), and also does not believe a word he is PAID to say on FoxNews (also from his own admission). Also in regards to Adam Smith, are you refering to the author who lived in the 1700's, or the current congressman from Washington. If it is the current congressman, I think a fact check is in order, because that Adam Smith is FOR what you deem socialized medicine. IF you are refering to the author who wrote "Wealth of a Nation", why yes I have read it in COLLEGE in fact ( and I am currently enrolled in college by the way). And while said Mr. Smith, was in fact in favor of seemingly self interests, he was also in favor of charity. But maybe we read two different books seeing as there are five of them.
    As for government getting back to free enterprise, while I agree with some of those idiologies, I must disagree when it comes to healthcare. You see the very FIRST line in our beloved US Constitution reads as follows...
    We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our prosperity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
    If you look up the definition of what WELFARE means as pertaining to this document, I'll tell you seeing as there was a link when I looked up the constitution...
    Welfare-HEALTH, HAPPINESS, OR PROSPERITY, well-being. Funny that health would be the first thing mentioned. And guess what...there was no definition to black people getting free taxpayer money in that definition of welfare.
    Now as to my real reason for writing...
    I am a married mother of two small children. Completely my choice to have a family right. Now I am also a self employed business owner. THE only reason my family has health care coverage is because of my husbands company. If he were to get displaced(that means laid-off)from this company, which he has worked for fourteen years, we would be without healthcare coverage, as I do not make enough money to buy it on my own. And although we are on a very strict budget, we are still living paycheck to paycheck. So if one of my family were to get sick and require hospitalization, we would then have to file bankrupcy (which is alot more expensive a cost to the common economy than having National healthcare coverage by the way).
    As for the United States having the best healthcare, sorry, not according to the World Healh Organization, we actually rank 37. But who's counting right? I mean to think Oman, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Isreal all have better healthcare rankings than the Good Ole' US of A. WOW!
    But you're right, death is a natural part of life, who cares about the quality of that life if you're dead. Well to that I truely hope your family NEVER has to be in the position of my friends. Having a debilitating disease, and not being able to do anything about it. And to tell you the truth, if you don't like government involvement, well don't call the police, fire department, don't take your trash to the curb, and especially don't use medicare or social security ( all paid for by taxes by the way.) OH WAIT...SO IS OUR BELOVED BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN IN MILITARY SERVICE! Don't do anything for them, they are the government's police!
    Nikolaus6...good luck to you and your family, I hope you never have to use a government program, cause I would hate for you to be like the rest of the hypocrits out there and use a program that is funded by taxpayer dollars and then bad mouth it.

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  33. Yay, over $8,000 already, you deserve it!! I get my craptastic paycheck in tomorrow so I'll of course donate, I'd give ya more but er... long story. Don't need to wish you luck b/c I know u'll reach ur goals, no matter how massive (and in this case, very literally).
    Thank you Mark Hoppus for making people aware of these issues, all these people who don't want universal health care already have great coverage so they don't get it (well, more likely than not, if u can find me some1 who does not have health insurance and is against this then I'll apologize I guess).

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  34. I don't understand why everyone thinks I'm heartless and don't understand poverty. I do understand poverty. Honestly, I'm probably very lower middle class. I have a mortgage payment, 4 kids and a wife. Most months, like most of you I scrape by on what I make paycheck to paycheck. Some months I'm fortunate enough to have discretionary funds to save or spend.

    I'm definitely not rich, but I'm definitely not for soaking the rich either! Sure, some rich people are snobs and talk down about or to the poor. However I’ve found this to be the exception rather than the norm.

    A brother of mine with a more liberal viewpoint often teases me for my conservative views, saying that I probably will gain rather than lose from all the social programs being implemented as of late and should stop complaining.

    So my viewpoints above aren't to discredit the needs of the poor or to sound like some high and mighty conservative. It's to sound a warning voice and remind people of the dangers of ignoring basic principles. I've learned over the years that a growth in government programs hurts everyone in the long run, particularly the middle class. Someone has to pay for all these new social programs. If the government doesn't tax us more then it has to print money and inflate our currency. My retirement is still a ways off, but the immediate thought I have is: There goes my dad's retirement savings!

    If the government taxes us more, you might say that with progressive taxation, that only the rich will be taxed. You might think that they have way too much discretionary money anyway. Regardless of whether the rich have too much money, the super rich will have their money protected in non-taxable trusts and other non-taxable investments. Even if you do successfully tax the rich, that money which might have been invested in businesses and created more jobs is now gone (i.e. the economy suffers). The poor are often exempt. That leaves the middle class assuming the real hit when it comes to taxes.

    Now some will say something to the effect of “You’re heartless and uncaring because you don’t believe in a public option that would provide for the poor and needy that can’t get insured!”. They accuse me and other conservatives of not wanting to help the poor and needy when all we’re saying is leave the government out of the equation! The poor should be helped but not via the government! As that great Frenchman Frederic Bastiat said in "The Law" hundreds of years ago:

    ____________________________
    Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all.

    We disapprove of state education. Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education. We object to a state religion. Then the socialists say that we want no religion at all. We object to a state-enforced equality. Then they say that we are against equality. And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain.
    _________________________
    The basic logic against socialism has been around for ages -- read Frederic Bastiat's "The Law". As he put it socialism is legalized plunder -- see http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html#SECTION_G717

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  35. As to the real purpose of government and law, Frederic Bastiat summed it up best in "The Law":
    ___________________________
    Since the law organizes justice, the socialists ask why the law should not also organize labor, education, and religion.

    Why should not law be used for these purposes? Because it could not organize labor, education, and religion without destroying justice. We must remember that law is force, and that, consequently, the proper functions of the law cannot lawfully extend beyond the proper functions of force.

    When law and force keep a person within the bounds of justice, they impose nothing but a mere negation. They oblige him only to abstain from harming others. They violate neither his personality, his liberty, nor his property. They safeguard all of these. They are defensive; they defend equally the rights of all.
    ________________________________

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  36. Please! I implore you, nikolaus6 – stop with the obscure French economist quotations already! What the crap does any of that have to do with the issue at hand – the fact that millions of Americans are uninsured, the fact that people actually die because of lack of health insurance, and the fact that the health insurance companies are allowed to make huge profits from human suffering? The logical answer is (*gasp*) having the government start a non profit health insurance option in which no one will be denied care. The “big, bad government” argument is just ideological rhetoric – and it proves that if something is repeated over and over and with enough conviction, people will believe it no matter what the facts. Let’s review some government programs, shall we? We can start with two of the most successful government programs in history -Medicare and Social Security – which provide healthcare and retirement or disability income to tens of millions of seniors who would otherwise be without it. How about the Veterans Administration, which is considered by many to provide the best health care in the country. U.S. National Park Service? Fire and Police? Internet? Can you picture any of these programs being privately owned and for profit?? Of course not. So why not offer a public health care option?? Jesus Christ! It's a no-brainer!

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  37. Chris Anderson, author of "The Long Tail" indirectly provides a good explanation of the fallacy of such wealth redistributing programs as you propose. In chapter 8 of his book he talks of the Italian Vilfredo Pareto who in 1897 was studying patterns of wealth and income. He discovered that the unequal spread of wealth followed the same general 1/x style curve regardless of the country, region or time period involved. He researched even medieval economies. Quoting Mandelbrot from wikipedia:

    One of Pareto's equations achieved special prominence, and controversy. He was fascinated by problems of power and wealth. How do people get it? How is it distributed around society? How do those who have it use it? The gulf between rich and poor has always been part of the human condition, but Pareto resolved to measure it. He gathered reams of data on wealth and income through different centuries, through different countries: the tax records of Basel, Switzerland, from 1454 and from Augsburg, Germany in 1471, 1498 and 1512; contemporary rental income from Paris; personal income from Britain, Prussia, Saxony, Ireland, Italy, Peru. What he found -- or thought he found -- was striking. When he plotted the data on graph paper, with income on one axis, and number of people with that income on the other, he saw the same picture nearly everywhere in every era. Society was not a "social pyramid" with the proportion of rich to poor sloping gently from one class to the next. Instead it was more of a "social arrow" -- very fat on the bottom where the mass of men live, and very thin at the top where sit the wealthy elite. Nor was this effect by chance; the data did not remotely fit a bell curve, as one would expect if wealth were distributed randomly. "It is a social law," he wrote: something "in the nature of man"

    So basically Pareto discovered that wealth redistribution schemes don't work! You might change who is rich and who is poor, but you're still going to have a "Long Tail" of poor people. Unfortunately social programs like universal health care will have just the opposite of your intended effect, i.e. you won't get diminish poverty and suffering, you'll simply spread it out. You'll make the "Long Tail" longer and like lobsters in a bucket, anyone trying to climb out of poverty will be drug back into it.

    This reminds me of a story I heard recently on that liberal biased news station NPR. It was a story about college tuition rates going up somewhere. The story ended with "fortunately no low income persons should be affected." It's like the liberal left has to add the disclaimer "no poor people were hurt..." (in the filming of this movie) to everything. Forget the fact that you were middle class and are becoming poor because you're being overtaxed, etc. The liberals don't care if you become poor through their benevolent redistribution of wealth. They just want to ensure that once you become poor that you are well taken care of by them. in fact they want you to stay poor so they can keep taking care of you. How nice of them!

    Oh and please altrockRN, if you're going to involve deity, have the decency to use their names with respect. But I guess that is just what one would expect from a freeloader type like yourself...

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  38. 1: I don't really know why I'm responding to this because your diatribes are just too strange and rambling to comprehend. I work with people who can't afford health insurance and suffer for it. Period. I could care less about graphs made 100 years ago.

    2: I think Jesus Christ would be on my side regarding this issue.

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