Question for pittypat.

[scarlett]

So you say that blacks are genically predisposed to die younger than whites? Do you have any data on that theory?  Preventive healthcare makes no difference?

No, I said that Black infants have a greater chance of dying but since you mention it Blacks do in fact have a greater genetic predisposition to heart disease than other races. They also run faster and jump higher if you haven't noticed. 

I did not say that preventive healthcare makes no difference, however, one glance at the chart I provided should quickly lead you to conclude that perhaps you are putting way too much emphasis on healthcare and too little on genes?

I agree that genes are a large, like over 75%, cause of our health condition. But with proper heallthcare and diet this can be greatly reduced.

[they call me MR. GRUMPY god damn it!]

Peter, don't believe everything you read. Things must be taken in context. Canada's healthcare is great. I have experienced boyh systems and canada is better.  At least one can get healthcare there. We are the only industrial civilized country in the world without some kind of national healthcare. Those with healthcare don't realize that they are just a few steps away with none in this country. Think about it. I have excellent healthcare but I am very concerned for those who do not. So don;t knock countries who at least give a shit for the less fortunate. Unlike many on this board.   

I don't believe everything I read.  Perhaps you have access to some statistics that disprove those in the article that I linked to.  Did those 100 mothers not exist?  I do not discount that the article could be propaganda.  But simply asserting that it didn’t happen isn’t enough. 

I too am very concerned for people who do not have adequate health care.  However, I fear that a government run system in the US will not provide that healthcare. 

this is it isn't it?  even if you buy into the health care is a right bs, does anybody actually think that the govt is capable of running a program of this scope efficiently/effectively??  if yes when and where is the evidence of this....

[Peter1469]

Amtrack?

[Peter1469]

I's love to campare those numbers with the babies who have died in this country due to inadequate healthcare.

Then please do compare it to numbers rather than feelings.   

[scarlett]

Feelings are not factored into Canada VS USA infant mortality rate. Only numbers. My personal "feelings" are that this is unacceptable in this rich, humane country. We squander money in other countries but fail our own people who suffer due to little or no healthcare. The system here is set up so that if one has an illness they are unensurable. Thia is despicible and cruel. charlty begins at home.

[Peter1469]

Feelings are not factored into Canada VS USA infant mortality rate. Only numbers. My personal "feelings" are that this is unacceptable in this rich, humane country. We squander money in other countries but fail our own people who suffer due to little or no healthcare. The system here is set up so that if one has an illness they are unensurable. Thia is despicible and cruel. charlty begins at home.

What numbers Pit?  That is the point.  If you are basing your feelings on bad data (or not data at all) then your disappointment in the US healthcare system is misplaced. 

While the United States reports every case of infant mortality, many other countries do not. For example, a 2006 article in U.S. News & World Report states - without any supporting citation - that "First, it's shaky ground to compare U.S. infant mortality with reports from other countries. The United States counts all births as live if they show any sign of life, regardless of prematurity or size. This includes what many other countries report as stillbirths. In Austria and Germany, fetal weight must be at least 500 grams (1 pound) to count as a live birth; in other parts of Europe, such as Switzerland, the fetus must be at least 30 centimeters (12 inches) long. In Belgium and France, births at less than 26 weeks of pregnancy are registered as lifeless. And some countries don't reliably register babies who die within the first 24 hours of birth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_mortality

[scarlett]

I give up, we are not going to change our minds on this issue. But why are you against affordable healthcare and care for the uninsurable? I don't understant that kind of seemly  incompassionate way of thinking. Please inform me. 

[Peter1469]

I give up, we are not going to change our minds on this issue. But why are you against affordable healthcare and care for the uninsurable? I don't understant that kind of seemly  incompassionate way of thinking. Please inform me. 

I am for affordable health care.  We just don’t agree with the way to achieve it.  There is no reason to assume that options other than yours are uncompassionate.   

[scarlett]

Then tell me your plan. We may not disagree as much as i thought. I appoligize for insinuating that you are not compassionate. I am sure you are. Many times i write before thinking that I am responding to a real person and not just a name on this board. Sorry.

[Peter1469]

I have mentioned a plan before that you appeared to like:

- have medical savings accounts for people to use to purchase routine medical care.  This will introduce the free market into the health care system and lower prices.  The money comes tax free from your paycheck (the employer is not paying money so the competitive issue you pointed out earlier would be controled)

- use health insurance for emergencies (like with car insurance- it doesn’t pay for maintenance, but it will pay if you are sideswiped by another driver.)  If health insurance isn’t paying for routine car, the costs of insurance will be less.  This can be done by employers (which would create competition issues) or by pools of individuals (so they have bargaining power).

- continue government run programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and others to provide health insurance to those who cannot afford it.  I would prefer that the States manage these plans. 

- encourage private contributions to the hospitals such as the Charity hospital system in Louisiana. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charity_Hospital. 

- do not mandate a single payer universal system.  The US has continually demonstrated that it cannot manage much of anything effectively.  If the government pays for health care there will be several problems.  Among these, three are primary in my mind: (1) demand will increase (it is free right?) thus driving costs up; (2) the amount of care available will be based upon a government budget; (3) if the national plan is mandatory health insurance a new bureaucracy will have to be created for enforcement taking money away from the already limited health care budget.
  (I have said that universal care is not a quality issue, but a quantity issue)

[scarlett]

Sorry, I do recall this plan. Why can't our politicins come up with something like this? Ever consider running for office?

[Peter1469]

I could never win because I wouldn’t beg for money or make any promises.  And I am not, in case you haven’t noticed, politically correct. 

I am not sure how “that was a stupid f’ing question” go over with the press corps. 

[scarlett]

Just be honest, far better than politically correct. I'm sick of political correctness. Bill Clinton made a mistake by saying that jesse Jackson won SC as well as Obama, Kerry criticised him for that remark. I don't think it was as bad as Kerry stating that Cheney's daughter was a lesbian.                   

[SDML]

Well, Pit-Scarlett, if you like Peter's plan then why vote for McCain? He doesn't go for this sort of thing. Peter's suggestion is right up Ron Paul's alley.

[scarlett]

Right, but RP dosent have a chance. I believe mccain will come up with a healthcare plan. I can not vote for oboma or hillary whichever one is nominated.