Quote Originally Posted by baddax View Post
Why is it no one will address the "Working Poor?". specifically those who can not afford the health care provided Or there Is no health care provided???
what do we for this class of people?
I guess I qualify as that, I'm the bread winner for a family of 4, my youngest has severe learning disabilities and a well documented genetic disorder. I work for a small Museum, which has a staff of 2 people. I work 40 hours per week and make less than $25,000 annually.

When my youngest was born, the complications from her disorder required over a month long stay in the intensive care unit, including time on a heart/lung bypass machine. After that she visited several doctors a week as followups. From the one bill we got, it was costing nearly 8k a day for her care in the hospital. She spent nearly 40 days in the hospital, which easily ran the costs to over $320,000. The only insurance option I have is Medicaid, which thankfully covered it. If I had to pay out of pocket for her care, I would never get out of debt in my life time. I would likely never own a house or ever get a loan again. There was no way I could ever pay for it.

What irks me in this whole debate, is that somehow there is this image of people recieving government health care now are 'freeloaders'. A majority of the people who get these benefits are like me, hard working (Both my wife and I work) and honest. You forget these systems are not easy to keep, I have to report my income each and every month, I have to send them copies of my bank statements and pay stubbs so they can make sure I don't make too much. If I make .01 over, they will drop me like a hot potato and I have to re-apply. Are there people who abuse the system? Absolutely, there are also rich who cheat on their taxes and old ladies who jaywalk. One of the leading causes of bankruptcy in this country is Medical bills.

I'm in favor of government health care because it saved my daughters life. Without insurance, I'm not sure she would have gotten the care she needed because there would have been no way for the Hospitals to recoup their costs. So today, I am going to her moving up day at her pre-school, a day only made possible by the Federal Government and the State of New York.