The most powerful military powers

[The Colonel]

Nearly 47 million Americans, or 16 percent of the population, were without health insurance in 2005, the latest government data available.

The number of uninsured rose 2.2 million between 2005 and 2006 and has increased by almost 9 million people since 2000.

The large majority of the uninsured (80 percent) are native or naturalized citizens.

The increase in the number of uninsured in 2006 was focused among working age adults. The percentage of working adults (18 to 64) who had no health coverage climbed from 19.7 percent in 2005 to 20.2 percent in 2006.

Nearly 1.3 million full-time workers lost their health insurance in 2006.

Nearly 90 million people - about one-third of the population below the age of 65 spent a portion of either 2006 or 2007 without health coverage.

Over 8 in 10 uninsured people come from working families - almost 70 percent from families with one or more full-time workers and 11 percent from families with part-time workers.

The percentage of people (workers and dependents) with employment-based health insurance has dropped from 70 percent in 1987 to 59 percent in 2006. This is the lowest level of employment-based insurance coverage in more than a decade.

In 2005, nearly 15 percent of employees had no employer-sponsored health coverage available to them, either through their own job or through a family member.

In 2006, 37.7 million workers were uninsured because not all businesses offer health benefits, not all workers qualify for coverage and many employees cannot afford their share of the health insurance premium even when coverage is at their fingertips.

The number of uninsured children in 2006 was 8.7 million - or 11.7 percent of all children in the U.S.1 The number of children who are uninsured increased by nearly 610,000 in 2006, the second year that the number of uninsured children increased.

Young adults (18-to-24 years old) remained the least likely of any age group to have health insurance in 2005 - 29.3 percent of this group did not have health insurance.

The percentage and the number of uninsured Hispanics increased to 34.1 percent and 15.3 million in 2006.

Nearly 40 percent of the uninsured population reside in households that earn $50,000 or more. A growing number of middle-income families cannot afford health insurance payments even when coverage is offered by their employers.

[The Colonel]

[myron myron]

In the U.S., poor citizens without medical insurance are provided free medical care paid for by the government under the Medicaid program.

The U.S. federal and state governments spend more on Medicaid than Britain spends on the entire NHS.

More people are covered under Medicaid in the U.S. than the entire population of Britain.

Moreover, publicly owned hospitals are required to treat people regardless of ability to pay and private hospitals that receive government funding (i.e., virtually all of them) are required to treat a certain number of people free of charge.

The one anecdotal incident you repeatedly refer to -- indeed anecdotal evidence generally -- does not prove a pattern and practice.

[Cambridge]

[myron myron]

The Colonel contends that American children are routinely denied medical treatment and "left to die" because they don't have medical insurance. The Colonel's contention is false.

Of course people who don’t pay their mortgage should be defaulted. They certainly should not be bailed out by taxpayers, many of whom do not even own a home.

[Cambridge]

[myron myron]

Not having medical insurance and defaulting on a private home mortgage are separate and distinct issues.

The American taxpayers already pay about $300 billion annually for de facto medical insurance covering some 55 million people under Medicaid.

[Cambridge]

[myron myron]

Medicaid covers about 55 million people, not a "very parochial" number at all.

If someone cannot afford to own a home, that person can rent. Taxpayers who rent should not have to pay the mortgages of people who want to own but cannot afford to own.

Chevron is a publicly traded corporation owned by its shareholders, many of them mutual funds in which American workers own shares by investing their 401k pensions.

[Cambridge]

[myron myron]

Medicare covers about 45 million elderly Americans.

Together, Medicaid and Medicare cover about one-third of the U.S. population.

[Cambridge]

[myron myron]

[Cambridge]

Two points. Medicare covers seniors, currently the most populous of age groups. So that's a matter of fortuitous statistics.

And if only one-third of the population is covered, what is happening with the other two-thirds? I think you just made Colonel’s point.

[myron myron]