What is the hole in our health care system that needs fixing?

I hear there are millions of working americans and their families that have no health insurance..due to employers not offering it.....which sounds like a very bad situation. But I also often hear that everyone in this country has access to free health care if they need it. I also know that in politics people will exaggerate things to make their case so they can have their way. Which is it, are millions of americans not getting health care? Are millions of elderly gettting healthcare but its not really adequate, and their prescriptions unaffordable? Is health care too expensive? Maybe we dont have a problem at all as others say.. Which is it? If your positions is that everyone has access to good free preventative health and dental care, then please be kind enough to explain how it works...does it vary from state to state? Are some states not providing adequate free health care for those who need it? So many questions....but I think you get the idea, please give good information
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WOW, get ready for a can of worms. No, everyone does not have access to free health care if they need it. There are Emergency Rooms for health emergencies if you don't have health insurance. They have to treat you for life threatening emergencies by law. If you go to the ER with strep throat because you don't have any insurance, they might hem and haw but they'll still treat you. If you have a chronic condition, they'll do the least possible for you to get you out of the ER. Hospitals have clinics based on a sliding scale for those who don't have insurance, you often have to wait a long time for appointments. The doctors in the clinic are often overworked, or newly trained. Again, people with chronic conditions do not get the best treatment possible, and frequently, even if they work hard or worked hard all their lives, are treated like dirt because they dont' have insurance. Quality care is not available for those who do not have insurance. Preventive care is non existant, the working poor often to not have enough money to spare for preventive care. The elderly have medicare which gets cut further year after year, leaving many people to have to choose between buying medication or groceries. If the elderly don't eat well, they are prone to strokes or heart attacks. Often they have to live with other relatives to make ends meet. I feel that the problem is the insurance and pharmaceutical companies lobbyists. They have far too much power. People say they don't want the gov't in our health care, well, it already is because of the power we have allowed them to have. We also have third party insurance which is through our employers...why do we need that? Why can't we get affordable health insurance on our own, like car insurance? Employer insurance came about during WW2 to attract workers to the unions. It's an outdated way of handling insurance, we need to look at that as well. A really good book on this subject is "Uninsured in American-Life and Death in the Land of Opportunity" by Susan Starr Stared that really covers this problem in depth and shows that it's not a problem of the poor but crosses many cultures and classes. Great question, a star for you! EDIT- thank YOU, Bert T for the compliment, I always enjoy your answers and you did it again this time. Let's hope we get somewhere with the new administration.
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