XPost: alt.tv.pol-incorrect, alt.politics.usa, alt.politics.democrats   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, rec.arts.tv   
   From: harrybignall68@yahoo.com   
      
   Not all of you deserve health care, only certain Americans have earned the   
   privilige.  The rich and strong must always prevail while the rest don't   
   matter.   Think of it as purifying society by eliminating you, the dross.   
      
      
   Wealthy get more health care than other Americans   
   Trend toward more equal access to care is reversing   
      
   Money can't buy you love, but it can buy you health, according to a new study   
   from Harvard Medical School.   
      
   Add inequality in health care to the growing evidence that the United States   
   is becoming a more class-based society, with a shrinking middle class, a   
   greater economic gap between the rich and poor and growing social unrest.   
      
   "In 2012, the wealthiest fifth of Americans got 43 percent more health care   
   ($1,743 more per person) than the poorest fifth of Americans, and 23 percent   
   more care ($1,082 per person) than middle-income people," the paper published   
   in "Health Affairs" stated. "These numbers reflect a striking reversal of a   
   long-term trend toward greater equality in health care use by all income   
   groups."   
      
   The shift away from more equal access to health care came in the mid-2000s,   
   at about the same time that conservative lawmakers began trying to rein in   
   spending on Medicaid, the health program for the poor and disabled. Spending   
   by poor people has actually dropped 3.7 percent since then, while spending by   
   the wealthy is up 19.7 percent.   
      
   The study found no change in health care inequality in Medicare, the health   
   program that covers almost every American over the age of 65.   
      
   President Lyndon Johnson's Medicare and Medicaid programs brought much more   
   equal access to health care beginning in the 1960s. Prior to that, the   
   wealthy used about twice as much health care than poor and middle class   
   people.   
      
   The study's authors attribute the growing inequality to the "widening U.S.   
   income inequality, the 2007-2009 recession, the slow recovery for the poor   
   and middle class, and a sharp rise in health insurance co-payments and   
   deductibles that discourage non-wealthy Americans from seeking care."   
      
   There is little debate that health care costs are growing too fast, and the   
   United States needs to discourage over-utilization. Co-pays and deductibles   
   can achieve those goals, but this study shows that people with higher incomes   
   are not as deterred as lower-income Americans. There is also a risk that   
   lower-income Americans who should be seeking early treatment are waiting   
   until they are much more ill before getting help, creating a larger burden on   
   the health care system.   
      
   The fact that Medicaid doesn't have the same problem argues for a single-   
   payer system for all Americans, not just the elderly. As long as we use price   
   to ration health care, rather than science-based medicine, then greater   
   income inequality will lead to greater health care inequality.   
      
   The middle and lower classes in America are becoming increasingly frustrated   
   with the status quo, which is leading to greater inequality of every kind in   
   this country. High health care costs is an important part of that   
   frustration, and one that will political leaders need to address.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)