# Would universal healthcare be more expensive or less than the current US system? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 24, 2009, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-universal-healthcare-be-more-expensive-or-less-than-the-current-us-system/487175 "2009-02-24T08:01:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 24
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-universal-healthcare-be-more-expensive-or-less-than-the-current-us-system/487175/461 "2009-03-20T21:35:08Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > Thanks for this. I have looked into Texas, Colorado and Washington (state), but don’t think I would like living in Indiana… I like mountains and don’t like basketball. 😃 > > Most other state’s systems are closed to (Florida has a waiting list years long). Nevada, Oregon, Washington would be ok, otherwise it looks like I’ll just go overseas again. I can manage to move countries every 3 months to stay legal… been doing it for years. One other option I have considered based on the actions of a few friends in my position is to seek asylum based on denial of access to medical care… an American Refugee. Massachusetts has some mountains. They also have a subsidized health care program you might want to look into. > **[Massachusetts health care reform](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_2006_Health_Reform_Statute)** > > The Massachusetts health care reform, commonly referred to as Romneycare, was a healthcare reform law passed in 2006 and signed into law by Governor Mitt Romney with the aim of providing health insurance to nearly all of the residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. > The law mandated that nearly every resident of Massachusetts obtain a minimum level of insurance coverage, provided free and subsidized health care insurance for residents earning less than 150% and 300%, respectively, of the... > [@](#): > > Through the law, Massachusetts provides subsidized health care for residents earning up to 100% of the Federal Poverty Level, and partially subsidized health care those earning up to 300% of the FPL, depending on an income-based sliding scale. The law is credited with covering an additional 439,000 Massachusetts residents as of April 1, 2008. Dunno your situation but depending on your income level it might be a good fit. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-universal-healthcare-be-more-expensive-or-less-than-the-current-us-system/487175/462 "2009-03-20T23:02:34Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Massachusetts has some mountains. They also have a subsidized health care program you might want to look into. > > [Massachusetts health care reform - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_2006_Health_Reform_Statute) > > Dunno your situation but depending on your income level it might be a good fit. My income is too high to qualify, but I gather they must have guaranteed issue - with no possibility to decline. I looked there before when we decided to leave the US. I forget exactly, but there were tax, residency and business issues that came up. For now my insurance is a changeable, full fare ticket out of the USA, and $50,000 in cash available for an air taxi evacuation flight to Europe. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-universal-healthcare-be-more-expensive-or-less-than-the-current-us-system/487175/463 "2009-03-21T03:22:02Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > If this was just a miscommunication between us then I’m perfectly willing to let the point go. Most of this thread has turned into at least miscommunication… ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-universal-healthcare-be-more-expensive-or-less-than-the-current-us-system/487175/464 "2009-03-21T03:53:47Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The forum is “Great Debates”, not “Everyone Agrees With Curlcoat”. Yes, Great Debates, not “ **Broomstick** gets to have all the hysterics she wants”. Buh bye. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-universal-healthcare-be-more-expensive-or-less-than-the-current-us-system/487175/465 "2009-03-23T13:35:14Z")
I’m not the one getting hysterical here over having to pay my fair share for the common good. You’re entire argument lurches between “I’m misunderstood” and “everyone else is wrong”. You have wrongly maintained that insurance is an “investment” (and it’s not), that claims are not paid primarily by premium money (they are), and numerous other points that display your woeful ignorance of insurance. You claim temping (duration of which varies by post) taught you more about insurance than is known by people who worked full time for over a decade in the business which doesn’t make a lot of sense. Most annoying, you whine about just barely getting by on an above middle class salary because there is nowhere else in the world you could possibly live, which I just do not believe - it’s fine to live where you want because you like it there, but this notion that disaster will strike if you go elsewhere is just … bizarre. If you choose to live where you do you’ll just have to deal with the taxes and being a neighbor to Octomom. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-universal-healthcare-be-more-expensive-or-less-than-the-current-us-system/487175.md?page=23)