For those who have no income or can't afford insurance, government has so many existing programs that no one can possibly list them all.
It's not quite as easy as all that. I suggest checking out
this story of a family trying to get insurance for their daughter.
The law also says that no one can be turned down for medical needs regardless of ability to pay.
Yes, but I don't think the law says you don't have to pay for it at all (nor should it; I believe doctors, etc, have the right to be paid for their services). So at some point, a patient without insurance is going to have to pay for it. Do you have any idea how overwhelming a $25,000 bill for surgery is? At $100 a month - and even that small amount is beyond the ability of some families to pay - it would take almost 21 years to pay off. Then throw in all the other bills that go along with a major surgery - home health during the recovery, bills from all the various doctors that attended you - and perhaps you can see why medical bills lead so many people into bankruptcy. A person shouldn't have to choose between surgery that will save their life and knowing that their long-term future is going to be hell paying for said surgery.
Also, all insurance is not created equal. Some employers offer fantastic coverage. Some employers offer crap coverage. Some employers don't offer coverage at all. If you're unlucky enough to work for a company with bad coverage, you might end up in the above situation anyway even with your insurance by the time you pay 20% for this, 20% for that. 20% of $25,000 is still $5,000 - not an amount to sneeze at. And of course if your employer doesn't offer it at all, you're right back where you started.
So, yes, I think national health coverage is at least worth discussing. At the very least we need something that isn't tied to our employers. What you do for a living shouldn't have anything to do with your quality of medical care.
