Shedding More Light

Fortunately, slooowly but surely, more light is being shed on "47 million Americans...uninsured" (http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/columnists/
cguerra/stories/MYSA092507.01B.guerra.345d50c.html).

The first and most striking being that 1/5 of them aren't even American! It was entertaining to watch Hillary Clinton this weekend assert that her plan wouldn't cover illegal immigrants, yet she, along with other demagogues, continue to cite that number. Isn't that at least a little disingenuous??

Also, more than 1/3 make more than $50,000, with almost 1/5 of those making more than $75,000. Many choose to go without, as is their perfect right. I once did, even though, at the time, I made less than $30,000. Whenever I went to the doctor, I paid out of pocket, which one could argue is better in that it exposes the patient to the true cost of health care today. More of that and costs might come down as a result of people thinking twice before going in for a simple cold.

Then there are those who are eligible for government plans but who haven't signed up. Who's fault is that??

The very snapshot nature of that figure explains that many of those "47 million" are without insurance (NOT without health care) only temporarily, for example due to the fact that they are between jobs, something that itself can be remedied by conferring upon individuals the same kind of tax treatment businesses receive.

I thought a little bit more this weekend about the fact that this could extend eligibility to kids living in households making more than $80,000. Put aside, for a moment, the outrageousness of that prospect, and the backdoor way in which it attempts to engulf a few more citizens into government-run health care. I understand that costs of living are different from state to state; $80,000 doesn't go as far, say, in California as it does here in Texas (and only partially due to higher taxes out there). This debate also brings to light the need, perhaps, to determine poverty rates based on state and local costs of living.