President Bush's veto of SCHIP legislation impacts lives in cities and in suburbs and in rural areas. Read what Charity has to say:
Speaking as a citizen of a very red state (Nebraska) - I was on a conference/town hall meeting phone call with our representative just two nights ago. The biggest concern was health care - the lack of it and the fact that we see so many children going with out and being hurt by that lack. This is a very fiscally responsible state - we have a balanced budget admendment which has resulted in steep cuts. Yet still, the people here want ALL children covered. And if anyone thinks the average Nebraska is communistic, I would like to see him stand up and tell that to a crowd of Husker fans on game day.This IS going to hit us hard here - health care cost in rural areas is MORE expensive than urban - mainly because we don't have enough doctors and nurses willing to work in those areas. Other costs of living might be lower (and I do add the might - housing is a little less expensive, but food isn't do to transportation costs) but we have the highest property tax rate in the nation (lots of land, no people and farms aren't taxed as high).
So, in my point of view, this isn't a red-state, blue-state issue - poverty is poverty be it urban or rural.
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I'd suggest you actually do a comparison of health care costs between local and rural areas. In fact, I'd suggest you compare all costs of living. Comparisons between Omaha, Nebraska and Washington, DC:
If you move from Omaha NE to Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA...
Groceries will cost: 25.812% more
Housing will cost: 172.45% more
Utilities will cost: 31.57% more
Transportation will cost: 9.347% more
Healthcare will cost: 17.898% more
Omaha and New York:
If you move from Omaha NE to New York (Manhattan) NY...
Groceries will cost: 65.805% more
Housing will cost: 375.239% more
Utilities will cost: 62.82% more
Transportation will cost: 17.158% more
Healthcare will cost: 36.28% more
Yeah, try that one again.
Oh, and if someone makes $83,000 and hasn't or cannot get insurance for their children, they probably shouldn't have custody of them. That is an abyssmal failure to prioritize.
JAM: Maybe if someone can't afford health insurance on a faimily income of $83K they should consider aborting their next pregnancy as well as giving up custody of existing kids.
For the record, I was thinking more about urban vs. rural within the state of Nebraska. I agree completely that cost of living is much more expensive on the coasts than it is here. (And by the way, within Nebraska, Omaha is considered very urban.) :-)
And from what I understand, that $83,000 figure was NOT in the bill sent to the White House. That was the increased cap that New York asked for - which they asked for BECAUSE cost of living is so much more expensive.
And for the record, no I did not do any type of comparison when I wrote the above comments. The point of the post was to point out that even a truly red state like Nebraska - voting for Republican presidents since 1964 (I think) - there is need and desire for all our children to have access to health care. My post was actually in response to another poster who stated that Bush did not sign because this would not affect red states. All I'm saying is that is does and we care about the children who do with out health care services because, even though their parents work, the health coverage isn't sufficient and the parents can't afford the out of pocket.
And by the way, isn't anyone shocked that with unemployment BELOW 5% in this country, we still have 4 million children without even the most basic health care?
Actually, if you have a kid with certain chronic illnesses, you often cannot buy insurance for them at any price no matter how much money you make. Insurance companies won't write such policies unless they are forced to do so.
The only way to get coverage in some states is to work for an employer who offers a group plan, where they have to cover everyone even if they have pre-existing conditions.
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