My background:
I'm Canadian, not American, so this is not first hand.
My wife is Americain (now a Permanent Resident in Canada). When in America, she was raised in a "lower class" family income environment.
My source of US news is all too often "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart
Show rules. I watch it almost every night. As an aside.. PVRs rule too.
So what is going on?
Here is what I know of the basics (please correct if you know I'm wrong... anyone):
Healthcare in the US is provided by independent hospitals which generally get their money from independent insurance agencies.
Lower class healthcare is basically from a thing called Medic-Aid (a non-independent insurance from the government), from which hospitals know they won't get any (or very little) money from because it's been bankrupt for, like, years now or something. Therefore, when lower class citizens show their Medic-Aid card to a hospital, the hospital tries to dispose of the "customer" as quickly and cheaply as possible. This results in little to no health care for the Lower class.
Middle class healthcare, in general, is (mostly) equivalent to Canadain healthcare or British healthcare. You show your health-card (from a private insurance company obtained from work or personally) and they end up paying the hospital. However, because the insurance companies are also in the business of making money, this results in many insurance company disputes and there are a "disproportionate" (to put it lightly) number of incidences where re-imbursement (or sometimes even the care itself) is refused or limited. This can easily wind up sticking the Middle class with medical bills that they cannot possibly be expected to be able to cope with (often more than $50,000).
High Class healthcare (generally) is one of the best in the world. As long as you can pay for it, regardless of insurance coverage, you'll get top-notch service.
Mr. President Obama is currently trying to put a government-regulated system in place. I'm not sure if he's trying to regulate the insurance companies or the hospitals or both. But, basically, he's trying to put in a socialized healthcare system without using the word "socialized."
Who is pro?
Any Lower Class that has ever been hurt and gone to the hospital (they are pretty much all refused coverage/help... basically... sometimes they're "given help" in the sense of things to "tide them over" so they go away). Oh yeah.. hospitals are "not allowed" to flat-out turn around and strictly refuse Medic-Aid covered individuals. But, there's little restriction on how, specifically, they "treat" such "customers." Therefore they tend to get the lowest quality help to get them out the door to make room for "real, paying customers."
Any Middle Class that has ever had a large medical problem and therefore a life-altering negative experience with the insurance companies.
Anyone with half a brain who understands that "healthcare for everyone" should be a basic right in an industrialized nation.
Who is against?
High Class citizens.
Insurance companies. The insurance companies are very big and have lots of money and lots of lobbyists. Conspiracy theory I think is probably more true then not: They are likely starting all these blatently untrue-rumors for anyone who'll listen (mostly lower class) that "Obama will kill your grandma" and "the government will decide how and when you'll die" and "you won't have any choice in treatments ever again."
What are the facts? What are the fictions?
Specifically? I got nothing, I'm too far removed from the situation. But I hope this overview helps.
And this is also an open invitation for anyone here to correct me or add additional facts and opinions.
Edited by Stile, : Fixed up some confusing-sounding stuff
Edited by Stile, : This has got to be the worst abuse I've ever made of the editing system. I shall stop now.
Edited by Stile, : Just an innocent typo correction this time. No, really, it was. Promise.
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