Now here is an idea that I think would work and provide everyone with health care.
The biggest problem is how do we pay for it and make it fair for everyone, including the free loaders. No one likes additional taxes, but hear me out. Cigarettes and booze already have steep taxes, but we need to add an additional tax to these products for health care. We also tax some food items.
Fresh, frozen and some canned unprepared meat, vegetables and fruit are tax exempt. Along with some of your dairy products, such as the different types of milk, cheese and eggs. Everything else will be taxed to pay for your health care.
Any type of prepared or package or high carbohydrate items. including rice, pasta, bread will be taxed. All processed, prepared , package food, including candy, chips, baked goods, flour, sugar, etc. The only exception would be some canned vegetables and fruit where there has been no sugar added. We would have to create a new product labeling system that accurately states a portion size (not 8 pieces equals a serving size) and determine at what point a serving becomes a high carbohydrate item.
Most health care problems exist because we do not take care of ourselves. We eat the wrong types of food, drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes. We end up being over weight, addicted to alcohol or tobacco and end up with diabetes, cancer and many other health issues. Restaurants and anyone who sells food would have to also collect a tax on the unhealthy foods they serve.
I am not saying you can not consume these items, but it will cost you more than eating right and not abusing your body. I have no idea at this time how much of a tax it would take to cover the entire system, but I think the idea needs to be researched. The tax would be fair for everyone as we don't have to buy the products that are taxed.
What if everyone started eating all the right things to avoid paying taxes into the health care system? Well that would be a good thing. We would be more healthy. Need less health care and hopefully less taxes to support the system.
Everyone should be entitled to health care. Low income, middle class, the rich and even illegal aliens. But everyone has to eat and if you like to eat chips, candy and high carbohydrate foods, you will pay into the system.
I am not a health nut. I have been what the doctors call over weight my entire life. I have diabetes, drink occasionally and abused my body with tobacco in the past. When I was a kid, we were allowed to eat a bowl of cereal every night before we went to bed. We had a large pourable container of sugar on the table so we could add as much as we like to our already sugar laden cereal.
I am OK with having to be on a waiting list for non life threatening procedures. The system also should not pay for any type of cosmetic surgery. This would be another tough task, but I think we could come up with a fair, easy to understand list, that would tell us what is covered and what is not. It does not need to be thousands of pages and hard to understand. There should be no exceptions as to who pays the tax or who is covered by the system.
The alternative is to keep on the same path we are on and our society well continue to be less healthy with each passing day.
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