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I previously talked about viewing posts on a forum where the people were discussing healthcare insurance/the bill, etc. One person wrote in to say that she lives in Japan and pays very very little for health care and her country still manages it while spending far less per person than the US and being rated one of the best in the world. I knew I had heard a few things over the years about Japan being in trouble in the future - that sure, it might be working okay right now, but it's not sustainable (are you surprised?).

The Washington Post happened to have an article on this dated Sept 7th 2009 where economists talk about the system being in dire trouble by 2050. The story seems to be the same for all of the countries I have researched so far. I also recall Japan calling for it's people to have more babies and this would be part of the reason - the social programs cannot survive if there is not enough work force to support them. That is the most simplest thing to figure out, and it does not take an economist or rocket scientist to figure that out! According to the article, it also seems that Japan's people are even more complacent about the system than Canadians seem to be.... 14 is the avg number of visits each person makes to the doctor annually! That's more than once a month! Wow... anyway, like I have said before, it's not that opponents to this kind of care don't want to help anyone else, it's not necessarily that they are all guarding their money with a shot gun in order to block another human being from receiving care - it's the knowledge that it will all end in tears eventually. And not so far into the distant future that none of us will be around to see the crash either... in 2050 I will be 76 years old. My children will only be in their 40s and 50s. Their children could be 10 or 20 or early 30s. We are talking my direct descents being highly affected by decisions we make today and yesterday and tomorrow. That's pretty scary.


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Also I must point out something interesting I noted -- a FB friend asked her American friends what the big deal is about this healthcare bill, why people would oppose it basically. I gave an answer, and then another of her friends posted in support of it. Admitted being a socialist at heart, and said she really likes Obama. Okay fair enough, but she also went on to say that the way she understood the bill, it's not individuals that will get fined for not having insurance, it's businesses who do not provide it for their employees....????????? Anyway another interesting point to note is that the very friend who posted the question works for a private insurance company here in Alberta lol. She goes through claims to approve or deny them. She often posts 'denied denied denied, why do these people think they can get away with this? denied denied denied'... So in my mind, she sees every single day at her job what some people will try to 'get away with' when using care that they have to pay for --- so what does she think must go on with care they DON'T have to pay much for (if anything)?? That's just my side note lol.... but I found it humorous. Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course, and the other woman even said 'socialist at heart', but she also supports a bill that she does not seem to understand. She is imposing her opinion on others by supporting this bill. If it was a CHOICE instead of fines for business or individuals, then people could follow whatever opinion they like and act accordingly - but all I see in supporters is either a denial of what is going on, or outright not understanding some of the key points in the bill. I heard  Democrats themselves stating that the fines for INDIVIDUALS would be about $600 to $1700, depending on who was speaking.