New app helps the uninsured find free healthcare

I'm very frustrated and disappointed with this thread.

I would think that everyone would behave like adults when talking about a politically sensitive subject like healthcare. I would hope that we would have respect for other people's points of view. I would expect that people who have personal experience of holding a minority position, as Apple users, would understand that the world does not always conform itself to our preferences.

Obviously, this was too much to expect.

Michael G. included his opinions in his post. That's one of the pleasures of writing for -- and reading -- TUAW; we have opinions about things outside of the narrow scope of Apple products, and sometimes we share them. Whether or not you agree with his opinions, or with the propriety of them showing up on a post here, is entirely your business, and you're free to avoid the site (or continue to read) based on his opinions.

Personally, I think that's a pretty silly reason to stop reading, but hey, it's your business. I also think that it's an expression of the same 'entitled' mindset that some have railed against here to expect that the media you read will continually and constantly conform to your ideological slant, and never challenge you with a stance that disagrees with your preconceptions. Again, your business. There's a "no iPad' link here for people who get offended by our iPad coverage, but there's no "avoid politics" button, no "avoid religion" button... and there isn't going to be. If that's a dealbreaker for you, so sorry, we'll miss you.

What is my business is maintaining a level of civil conversation around these topics when they do come up, and requiring that this community adhere to some basic levels of sanity in its discourse. In this regard, clearly, we have a lot of work to do.

In the future, commenters who cannot maintain a minimal level of civility will be warned; if they persist, they will be banned.

I'm closing comments on this post.

Bye, Bye TAUW. You not only put up this socialist, statist BS article, but you let one or two jerks dominate the remarks and insult anyone who does not agree with them. I think Mac NN is where I'll rely on my Mac info.

I like peanut butter.

Congrats TUAW! You lost yet another reader solely because of this post. Great job, unless you enjoy losing readers because of articles which insist on disseminating propaganda about which you know nothing rather than sticking to what you do well, Apple products and related technologies.

Thankfully we aren't yet compelled by the government to read left leaning blogs that insist on spreading a particular political agenda.

*Deletes TUAW from RSS aggregator and replaces with MacNN*

Congrats TUAW! You lost yet another reader solely because of this post. Great job, unless you enjoy losing readers because of articles which insist on disseminating propaganda about which you know nothing rather than sticking to what you do well, Apple products and related technologies.

Thankfully we aren't yet compelled by the government to read left leaning blogs that insist on spreading a particular political agenda.

*Deletes TUAW from RSS aggregator and replaces with MacNN*

In general, it is a good idea to avoid politics or religion on a blog like this. However, the extremely limited scope of life experience and provincial laundry list of hot button issues makes avoiding getting a teabagger angry nearly impossible.

You can't talk about medicine or health care. You can't talk about science because that will send them off on creationism or evil-ution. You can't talk about the volcanic eruption in Iceland, fuel efficient cars, alternative energy, recycling, cycling, weather, planets, or anything remotely related to our planet, because they haul out their straw-Gore and start beating him with the climate denial stick. You can't talk about any countries outside of the United States or they'll call you a socialist and launch into a tirade about the UN. Or France. You can't bring up movies, because they'll start in on the "Hollywood crowd" (whatever that means). You can't talk about food because they'll berate you for not loving delicious beef and cheddar. You can't talk about fitness because they'll start in on how real men don't do yoga or some other useless, poorly concealed rant against homosexuality.

There literally is nothing you can mention because they are so polarized, twisted, and coiled up into a white-hot pretzel of rage.

My advice to the contributors at TUAW is to just continue to post on what you will and as you please. Those people cannot ever be satisfied in this lifetime until Sarah Palin ushers in an American theocracy and anyone who is not Republican is exiled to Mexico.

The confederacy is still with us, sadly.

Don't let the haters get you down, TUAW. Full steam ahead.

Apparently teabaggers buy Apple products as well, as much of the commenting here has turned into a pollyanna screed against "Obamacare." I guess that speaks well to Apple's penetration of all demographics, even the least desirable ones.

But here's a comment that is on topic...

Did no one vet what this "access" to "free programs" is about? It's run by biotech research and pharmaceutical companies and essentially one is offering oneself as a guinea pig. That's the free health "care" here. You get the privilege of being a test subject.

This is exactly on par with getting a "free" doughnut and cup of juice when you donate blood plasma. It's nothing close to free. In exchange for putting your health on the line, you get access to some pharmaceuticals that may help, may not help, or may make you much, much worse.

If that doesn't say everything about why we need health care for all, nothing does. This is vile and TUAW should dig a little deeper before they naively post about this wonderful program which is really just about biotech firms taking advantage of the poor and desperate. Biotech companies have done for decades in third world nations where the laws against such things are lax or non-existent and now they're expanding these programs in the United States. Any decent human being should reject this kind of exploitation.

Cowicide

I hope to God you don't have the ability to reproduce or any way, shape or form... Please please be a hosexual!

REALLY?

So you can afford and iPhone or iPod Touch but you can't afford health insurance? PRIORITIES ANYONE? C'MON, ENOUGH OF THIS SOCIALIST BS!

How about how the NHS is working in Britain?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1262483/Cancer-survivor-refused-breast-reconstruction-operation-NHS-officials-dismiss-cosmetic-surgery.html

-I guess she didn't need that after all, right?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1174592/Kidney-cancer-patients-denied-life-saving-drugs-NHS-rationing-body-NICE.html

-Kidney cancer patients? Can't be bothered with them. Costs too much.

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.2522438.0.One_third_of_patients_encounter_problems_with_NHS.php


You see, cowicide, every nation that institutes this "universal" health care has to ration care. We have approximately 12 million chronically uninsured people in this nation. That number excludes all illegal immigrants and people who elect not to buy health care. Just because you have universal coverage, does not guarantee quality of care, which the USA leads the world in. There are so many stories about people getting screwed by the government health companies, but the patients can't sue them, like they can sue an insurance company here.


"Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." - CS Lewis