I fear for Australias future

[Black Orchid]

You lefties carried out a scare campaign that the LNP would downgrade (not scrap) Medicare and it was all BS propaganda which the left use regularly to control their lemmings.

[brian ross]

You lefties carried out a scare campaign that the LNP would downgrade (not scrap) Medicare and it was all BS propaganda which the left use regularly to control their lemmings.

Rather like how the Tories controls there's, hey, Black Orchid? What lies they tell, hey? They love to mention the debt that the ALP produced yet don't mention that the Tories have basically trebled it since taking office. Funny that, hey? Then there is the attack on Bill Shorten's brother and now his Mother. Talk about dragging family into politics. Talk about lies...

[Bobby]

I fear for Australia in terms of law and order.

[Black Orchid]

Then there is the attack on Bill Shorten's brother and now his Mother. Talk about dragging family into politics. Talk about lies...

No idea what was written about his brother and don't care. Family should be left out of it period on both sides.

But having said that I just had a quick look and found that Shorten was corrected by the DT. Shorten apparently brought his mother into things himself ...

He (Shorten) said she (his mother) had wanted to study law but had to take a teacher's scholarship so she could support her younger siblings.

The DT corrected him ...

The newspaper accused Mr Shorten of having neglected to say that his mother did go on to study law, and gained first-class honours before going on to practise for six years.

If he wants to put his family out there for all the world to see he needs to be fully (and not partially) truthful about it.

[Texan]

I have the freedom to take whatever job I want and can live whatever lifestyle I can afford. I started with nothing and am doing quite well. I've always been able to provide health insurance for my family and we have received top notch medical care. Child births, meningitis, bleeding on the brain, sutures, knee surgeries, reproductive surgery, broken bones, all covered and repaired well. If someone wants to do drugs and have kids before they can afford them, it's not my responsibility to bail them out. I was responsible enough to make those decisions. I started with nothing, worked my way through college, found a beautiful and virtuous woman to marry, had kids when we could afford them, and worked my tail off to provide for my family so that my wife hasn't taken a job outside the home in 25 years. I'm living the American dream and anybody can do it if they are willing to discipline themselves. Sure there are exceptions, but most poverty is self induced in a capitalist country.

The point I am making and which you are unwilling to acknowledge it seems, you cannot expect the unexpected, Tex. Insurance covers you only for the basics, it does not necessarily cover you for the advanced problems. My son was born with a physical disability. He had VATERS syndrome (don't bother looking it up, it's just an acronym for various physical problems that tend to go hand-in-hand). This was unexpected. We had basic medical insurance. However it does not, downunder, cover you for the "gaps". The gaps are what is not paid to you by Medicare which covers the basics of medical care and what the various medicos charge you for their services - which of course are higher. In our case, the hospital and Medicare agreed on the costs and so we owed the hospital nothing. In a privatised medical system, the Doctors can charge what the hell they like and do. That is why your nation's medical costs are soaring out of control, Tex. The greed of people.

Medicare was introduced because of the failures of the previous privatised medical system. Last election, it was rumoured the Tory Government was intending to scrap Medicare. They only won the election by one seat. Since then, they have lost two seats and are in minority. This election they are likely to lose Government and so they bloody well should.

I believe in the greatest good for the greatest number. Socialism provides that. Your Government and your Right-Wing have carried scare campaigns ever since before the Soviet Revolution about the supposed dangers of Socialism. That seems to be ending now. Good, about bloody time.

My insurance is pretty comprehensive. The maladies I listed are only what my family has experienced, but my insurance covers everything from cancer, organ transplants, birth defects, and Parkinson's. We have people who have been on welfare with free medical care since the 60s. Their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren have never done anything productive and the bills are becoming too much to bear. There is too much fraud and abuse for socialism to work in the real world for long term without totalitarian control by the government and rationing of services. Hence the lines for bread and TP that socialist countries are famous for.

[Black Orchid]

For those without paid health care how does it work? I assume they still get healthcare in emergencies just without their choice of who attends them?

[brian ross]

My insurance is pretty comprehensive. The maladies I listed are only what my family has experienced, but my insurance covers everything from cancer, organ transplants, birth defects, and Parkinson's. We have people who have been on welfare with free medical care since the 60s. Their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren have never done anything productive and the bills are becoming too much to bear. There is too much fraud and abuse for socialism to work in the real world for long term without totalitarian control by the government and rationing of services. Hence the lines for bread and TP that socialist countries are famous for.

And how much do you have to pay for that level of cover, Tex?

How does someone who is not earning very much get that level of cover?

Medical care is IMO a right, not a privilege based on how much you can pay. Everybody is entitled to at least an adequate level of care. That doesn't mean they are necessarily entitled to be covered for the frivolities - the liposuction, the cosmetic treatments, the "nips and tucks", the gender reassignments, etc. They should be covered for life-saving treatments - again not necessarily to extremes either. Everybody dies eventually and people just need to face their own mortality.

[Texan]

My insurance is pretty comprehensive. The maladies I listed are only what my family has experienced, but my insurance covers everything from cancer, organ transplants, birth defects, and Parkinson's. We have people who have been on welfare with free medical care since the 60s. Their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren have never done anything productive and the bills are becoming too much to bear. There is too much fraud and abuse for socialism to work in the real world for long term without totalitarian control by the government and rationing of services. Hence the lines for bread and TP that socialist countries are famous for.

And how much do you have to pay for that level of cover, Tex?

How does someone who is not earning very much get that level of cover?

Medical care is IMO a right, not a privilege based on how much you can pay. Everybody is entitled to at least an adequate level of care. That doesn't mean they are necessarily entitled to be covered for the frivolities - the liposuction, the cosmetic treatments, the "nips and tucks", the gender reassignments, etc. They should be covered for life-saving treatments - again not necessarily to extremes either. Everybody dies eventually and people just need to face their own mortality.

Everybody gets medical care in America. With insurance, that medical care doesn't bankrupt me. Most people have insurance through their employer, so anybody with a job has insurance. People who refuse to get a job deserve to be broke.

Anything the government takes over tends to become expensive, especially healthcare. My grandparents used to pay cash for their medical care and it was not a problem. My granddaughter's birth cost over $10k, but my son's insurance covered 100%.

[IQS.RLOW]

Everybody is entitled to at least an adequate level of care. That doesn't mean they are necessarily entitled to be covered for the frivolities - the liposuction, the cosmetic treatments, the "nips and tucks", the gender reassignments

I spy with my little eye, something beginning with...bigotry Dearie dearie me.

I'll save this for the inevitable argument Bri Bri will fart from the other side of his mouth when he sides with lefty mungbeans calling for various "alternative" medicines to be added to Medicare and defends the healing powers of "_____"<--- insert 'alternative medicine's bullshit here ... while regaling us with yet another anecdote about someone he knows who was s̶a̶v̶e̶d̶ suckered.

[brian ross]

My insurance is pretty comprehensive. The maladies I listed are only what my family has experienced, but my insurance covers everything from cancer, organ transplants, birth defects, and Parkinson's. We have people who have been on welfare with free medical care since the 60s. Their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren have never done anything productive and the bills are becoming too much to bear. There is too much fraud and abuse for socialism to work in the real world for long term without totalitarian control by the government and rationing of services. Hence the lines for bread and TP that socialist countries are famous for.

And how much do you have to pay for that level of cover, Tex?

How does someone who is not earning very much get that level of cover?

Medical care is IMO a right, not a privilege based on how much you can pay. Everybody is entitled to at least an adequate level of care. That doesn't mean they are necessarily entitled to be covered for the frivolities - the liposuction, the cosmetic treatments, the "nips and tucks", the gender reassignments, etc. They should be covered for life-saving treatments - again not necessarily to extremes either. Everybody dies eventually and people just need to face their own mortality.

Everybody gets medical care in America. With insurance, that medical care doesn't bankrupt me. Most people have insurance through their employer, so anybody with a job has insurance. People who refuse to get a job deserve to be broke.

Anything the government takes over tends to become expensive, especially healthcare. My grandparents used to pay cash for their medical care and it was not a problem. My granddaughter's birth cost over $10k, but my son's insurance covered 100%.

Might I inquire as to why your granddaughter's birth was so expensive, Tex?

I am sure that some people are amongst the working poor and cannot receive or afford medical insurance, Tex. You appear unwilling to consider their plight. I wonder why? Are they expected to die simply because they cannot afford medical treatment?