26 Responses to “If Health Care Is A “right”, How Can They Force Private Doctors To Provide Care To Unpaying Patients?”

1. 

   Gerard de Ridefor† said on Saturday, August 1, 2009, 16:45

   health care in America is a joke all they need do is copy the Uk and have a national health service free for everyone. That way it misses out all the insurance and you can tax the rich more to pay for it
2. 

   i love yahoo answers said on Saturday, August 1, 2009, 22:52

   Do you know regular insurance companies don’t pay what the doctors care is worth?
   Do you know many insurance companies don’t even pay, they find any glitch to deny a claim payment?
   Do you know people can just go to an ER and get treated and never pay anyway? At least they would get paid if these people had some sort of insurance.
   Do you know how many people believe their insurance company should pay a doctor so if it does not, they refuse to pay the doctor (I have seen many well off people refuse to pay a bill to the doctor)
3. 

   xxkittyx said on Sunday, August 2, 2009, 4:40

   In a military-industrial complex, there is an irrational fear of helping those who need it- you know, those who can’t afford to help themselves. Usually they can’t afford to help themselves in such societies, because the goal of industrial greed is established as a moral imperative and not a blight.
   Social Security works fine, as long as it is means tested, and the rich aren’t dipping their fingers into the poor man’s honey-pot.
   Unless the policy of “kill the weak, because the are undesirable” becomes ratified, then the poor have a right to as much care and to the same treatment as ANYONE else- simply because of the constitutional vice: “all men are created equal.”
   Concern for the welfare of the poor must become national. The foreseeable consequences of forsaking the poor are intolerable to any dignified nation.
4. 

   Ames said on Sunday, August 2, 2009, 5:41

   I think what you are asking is fair and should not be reported.
   I don’t know what Obama’s plan is as far as health care goes. I don’t believe that it should be imposed upon people who don’t want it. I don’t think that people should be fined if they decide not to take the health insurance being offered.
   I do agree with Obama far more than McCain but this subject has got me confused!
5. 

   J&J said on Sunday, August 2, 2009, 10:52

   I thought that was an important point in the debate, which the pundits sort of glossed over.
   Obama believes healthcare is a “right”, and McCain believes it is a “responsibility”.
   Obama SAYS he will create Universal Healthcare, but his Plan does not provide for it. Again, what he says now and what he says later are two different things.
   Our federal budget currently has a bit less than $1 TRILLION dollars dedicated to Healthcare, Medicare and Medicaid, which does not include Veterans Healthcare.
6. 

   TiedtoaR said on Sunday, August 2, 2009, 14:57

   Many American doctors have already retired early or changed careers. They cannot afford to practice alone or in small groups because the insurance companies make all the money, not the physicians. In Canada, there is a shortage of physicians and patients are scheduled months in advance to see a specialist or have necessary tests completed. Government interference will contribute to decreased physician availability and less qualified physicians practicing.
7. 

   Bad Kitty! said on Sunday, August 2, 2009, 21:03

   Health care is not a right.
   There is no “right to health care” in the Constitution of the United States.
   And things aren’t “rights” if you need to impose on other people (doctors and healthcare workers) in order to get them.
   Health care is a responsibility and an obligation.
   Sure, we need reform; but that doesn’t make healthcare a right.
   SAYING it is sounds really good in a speech, though.
8. 

   wanderin` wonderer said on Monday, August 3, 2009, 0:28

   simple… doctors will still be independent… probably will recieve a gov’t suppliment in addition to what they are making … and we the tax payers that are healthy fit and elect by our own best judgement not to have health care ( as lets be serious here insurance is a gamble. you gamble you are going to get fatally sick, and the insurance provider gambles you wont) will be forced to give up that additional income to those many who elect to have health care out of paranoia, or becuz they dont know what to do but follow the gov’ts lead. we will officially out of the goodness of our hearts taking care of the little man.
   thank you. please cut my heart out… and NO i do NOT want a transplant!!!
9. 

   Jessica said on Monday, August 3, 2009, 2:59

   You know what’s better? Screw the entire medical profession. No one needs health care. If you get sick you should just die.
   Oh that’s a little harsh isn’t it. Only when it applies to you. All of those people who can’t afford healthcare, however….
   Edit: If they get paid they will continue to do it. Simple as that.
10. 

    justm399 said on Monday, August 3, 2009, 7:18

    Of course, now the poor are forced to wait until their illness has blossomed into an emergency, and the ER’s have to treat them.
    Overall it would be CHEAPER to give them good access to doctors up front and help PREVENT the emergency treatmet.
11. 

    nomad said on Monday, August 3, 2009, 8:17

    You are right Healthcare is not a RIGHT, never has been. Where is it specifically stated in the Constitution that the Fed is to provide healthcare? Nowhere, these people are coming out of the woodwork thinking that the Fed should provide healthcare. They are very confused.
12. 

    Honesty doesn't matter said on Monday, August 3, 2009, 8:20

    Excellent question. Either Yahoo liberal monitors deleted your previous or a liberal blinded sheeple reported your question only because a fact struck a nerve.
13. 

    Hater Police said on Monday, August 3, 2009, 10:12

    People get care they don’t pay for now! Don’t you idiots realize that? When uninsured people turn up at the emergency room for routine care… they don’t pay for it. The rest of us eat the costs!
14. 

    ashortcu said on Monday, August 3, 2009, 16:34

    Because everyone has the “right” to health care. Its not fair to let people die who cant afford it.
15. 

    Scunnere said on Monday, August 3, 2009, 19:50

    Just like the healthcare system in the U.K. Take your worst, laziest government worker and that’s what you’ll experience next time you need medical help. It’s scary!!
16. 

    The Wizard said on Tuesday, August 4, 2009, 0:04

    Actually it is the private companies that will do that.
17. 

    bill M said on Tuesday, August 4, 2009, 5:09

    good question i dont know i have been wondering that to
18. 

    Betsy said on Tuesday, August 4, 2009, 7:20

    This health care plan will only be an OPTION. There will still be those who use private care plans or no insurance at all. As such, the doctors that really went into medicine for money will simply refuse to see patients using this plan…the same as they can refuse to accept Medicaid and Medicare patients now.
19. 

    Improper Bostonian-Obama! said on Tuesday, August 4, 2009, 8:44

    Well since I live in a state where healthcare is mandated (by Mitt Romney mind you and since he is a R maybe you will “get it” better)
    I can tell you exactly how it works. The insurance cost is based on your income. The quality of care does not change. We keep our own doctors, and dental as well as vision is included. It is very, very affordable. it’s not rocket science. It’s a blessing.
    (Since I see a couple saying this is for poor people who don’t deserve insurance, (good Lord) I am in the middle class income level and got this insurance because my employer does not offer it, this is not a poor persons insurance at all, it’s a fair plan for all like it should be. Everyone deserves healthcare, especially children and the elderly.)
    No… we are in the “HOLE” due to the Big Dig. Thanks, nice try though. Jeesh, you ask for an answer and then you still complain. No wonder your questions get deleted.
20. 

    miahj200 said on Tuesday, August 4, 2009, 12:09

    I am a medical student who will soon become a doctor, so I will someday see this issue from both sides of the fence. You can’t ignore the growing costs of medical insurance that employers are refusing to share, leaving the burden on their employees who are increasingly opting to either take a very limited insurance policy or opt for none and try to skip through life on a “don’t get sick” policy.
    You also can’t ignore how doctors must constantly dance around the guidelines and rules laid down by insurance and pharmaceutical companies just to provide adequate care.
    Personally, I think the healthcare industry needs to take a good hard look at the practices by insurance and pharmaceutical companies as they are probably screwing both patients and doctors out of adequate care and hard-earned money.
21. 

    Jack X said on Tuesday, August 4, 2009, 13:24

    You people are idiots. Please research things before spouting off.
    Currently, doctors that accept insurance receive less from the insurance company as remittance than they do from uninsured patients paying cash because the insurance company uses the power of the collective number of people they have insured as a carrot to entice doctors into accepting their insurance. Doctors accept the lower value because they want the guaranteed income that those insured patients provide. This would work exactly the same if healthcare was nationalized. It’s a change in insurance, not a change in civil rights where they are forced at gunpoint to treat people. If they don’t want to accept the insurance, they can say “cash only”, just like they can now.
    Edit: Ok, not all of you are idiots. I see a couple understand how it currently works.
22. 

    It's That Guy said on Tuesday, August 4, 2009, 18:05

    When it comes right down to it, we are a civilized country. Nobody bleeds to death on the steps of the Emergency Room. If you can make it to the Emergency Room, they have to help you whether you have insurance or not, at least to a certain level of care. A goodly percentage of ER patients never pay, so the hospital charges the rest of us more, like $20 for a Tylenol.
    I agree with you, doctors have a right to be paid. But I also think a certain level of health care is a ‘human right’, especially in a rich country like this. Just as fire and police protection are seen as rights, not just for citizens, but for anyone in the country.
    Fire protection is a good example. 100 years ago, fire protection was optional. Fire companies were private, and you would buy a subscription to one if you wanted fire protection. But people learned that if their next-door-neighbor’s house burned down because he didn’t have a fire subscription, their own house was threatened. So in town after town, county after county, they decided to have the city or county run the fire department and charge everyone in taxes. And, I guess no surprise, not only did that work better to lessen total fire damage, but it was also cheaper for everyone! So today, 100 years later, we consider fire protection as a ‘right’.
    It’s the same with medical care. If instead of competing health insurance companies running the entire health care industry, trying to ‘cherry pick’ only healthy people to insure, we had everyone in the same insurance pool, we could save about half of what we pay for health care. Every other rich country does this, and they all pay half what we do, or less, for the same level of care, or better, the same level of customer satisfaction.
    Do you have health insurance or do you just pay for all your own care out of pocket? If you have health insurance, then you ALREADY pay for other peoples’ care! If you have a serious heart attack or need a kidney transplant, others will be paying for YOUR care. That’s how it works already. Universal health care is just a better, more cost-effective way to do it.
23. 

    cookiemo said on Wednesday, August 5, 2009, 0:45

    Good grief! What ignorant answers you are getting on here! I think people who aren’t working or are pan handling in the streets don’t deserve insurance. It is not a right! Responsible people who work for their money are provided insurance-if they are disabled the government gives them Medicaid-understandable. What does not make sense is that under Obamas plan he states that there would be no pre-existing conditions. That SOUNDS great but if insurances had to pay everything for everyone, it would bankrupt the healthcare system-noone would be able to get what they need because all the funds would be tied up-people don’t think about things like this.
    Government insurance has been tried out in Canada and the people hate it.
    People there have died waiting on the government to approve heart surgeries, lung surgeries, transplants etc because it is no longer a private insurance paying for it it’s the government deciding who gets treated for what. This will become extremely bad for doctors who want to treat their patients but cannot because they are waiting on funds to be approved by our government-as you know the government doesn’t do anything fast-its a ridiculous idea but few people are even questioning it because they are so in awe of the man.
24. 

    Gaia said on Wednesday, August 5, 2009, 6:55

    I know you said you didn’t want an opinion… but Oh well.. I’m giving it anyways becuase I feel like too many Americans do NOT understand the logic behind national health care. Americans are so against national health care because they don’t feel the government should control the health care system. BUT how is the right to health care any different from public safety, fire protection or public education (all socialized institutions of society)? If police officers and fire fighters made money when we were attacked or our homes caught on fire, would that really work in the best interest of protecting the public? Or what if after you’ve been mugged, in a car accident, or your house burns down once you are denied services after that because you are too high of a risk? Why is it then okay for corporations to make money when we are ill or deny them services there after? Why are Americans so blind to this logic? Health care should be a basic right just like safety and education.
    The doctors and the whole health care system would be paid through our taxes. If you want to know HOW it works, you should ask any one of the industrialized nations around the world how they make it work. The US is the ONLY wealthy, industrialized nation in the world that doesn’t provide some form of universal health care. The citizens and governments of those countries, spend far less per capita that we do here in the US. The doctors would get paid the same way they do now except the profit making insurance company middle men DO not exist and therefore do not get a cut.
25. 

    jb2001 said on Wednesday, August 5, 2009, 8:03

    It’s simply a matter of having been there before. If you are living paycheck to paycheck, then a simple trip to the doctor can break your budget. Obama simply believes that more people than just the wealthy should be able to go see the doctor when there is something wrong. A lot of middle class people don’t get treated for anything because they can’t afford it. By adjusting the insurance system so they can’t turn people down for having preexisting conditions, people will be more likely to pay. I think that we need to do something about frivolous lawsuits, because so many people sue for malpractice due to a papercut they got at the hospital, that doctor’s malpractice rates are through the roof.
26. 

    Slate said on Wednesday, August 5, 2009, 10:58

    By violating the doctors rights by forcing them to serve of course.