NOTE: I came from a poverty background, and I saw what happened to people who could not afford health insurance. American people ought to be ashamed of the way many sick people, without physician and hospital insurance, are treated. Cruel! (This was published in 1994).

Much of the population of the United States is already covered by a type of national health insurance. This is obvious when you think about it. Elderly people are covered by Medicare, and this federally-funded program is handled by private business, namely Aetna Insurance Company. Honorably discharged veterans are covered by veterans’ medical benefits. Most people determined disabled are covered. Native Americans are covered under the Indian health care programs. Welfare mothers are covered by Medicaid, and across the nation many of these mothers add 3,000 babies per day, per day, to the welfare rolls of the states. These new babies are then added to the mothers’ cases and are covered by Medicaid, a health care program.

People who are fortunate enough to work for some organizations which provide health care benefits are covered. Others can afford to pay for their insurance.

Who are the people without medical insurance or some other type of health care? Answer: About 40 percent of the working people who are underemployed or whose jobs provide no insurance benefits at all. They simply cannot afford all of their withholdings, meet their living expenses, and pay for medical insuraance. Many of these people are frequently turned away from clinics and/or hospitals because they have no money on hand to pay the bills, or they have no insurance. A national health care program for all Americans, similar to Medicare, is bound to come.

But in the meantime, many people will needlessly suffer, and many will die, because they can’t obtain adequate medical care. I know of many cases in which these things happened. In my opinion, this is both unethical and immoral.
 
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