Hi tracy,

Nope, I was not refering to indian tribes, but more to people who are living in poverty. It is an expression we regular use in dutch (hele volkstammen = whole tribes), to describes large numbers of people.

BTW, I knew that of indian tribes. As I recall they have special tax arrangements as well and some other deals that lead many of them into the gambling business..

Walter,

>Are you referring to American Indian tribes in the U.S.? I have relatives living on the reservation in Wisconsin and they receive health care for FREE. By law, members of federally recognized tribes have special legal rights to healthcare and if living on or near reservations they receive universal healthcare at no charge through the Indian Health Service (IHS). The problem is that there are no centers setup in large municipalities because there it was meant to allow them to stay on the reservation.
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>>>>>Sorry to say it, but it's entirely because medical work is cheap in Serbia, and other similar places.
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>>>>huh... In every western country I know of, except the US it works that way. In holland virtually everyone is insured and everyone can get medical care. And we are a rich western country with very modern medical care that also cost a lot. So could anyone explain me why such thing could not be accomplished in the US ??
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>>>>Walter,
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>>>The word 'cheap' was related to different thing: why doctors spend more time with patients and why US hospitals have shortage of doctors.
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>>ok
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>>>In regard to your question: you probably know that it's not income related. Low or no income actually makes getting medical care the easiest in USA. Uninsured are mostly middle-income young people. They are healthy and accordingly have different spending priorities. If forced to buy/pay for medical insurance that would have to cut down on nightclubs, restaurants, fashion stores etc. One may argue that it's good but I think that government should not regulate human behavior to such an extent. So far the latter point is shared by most Americans, though it may change in near future.
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>>That might be so for a percentage, but I do know whole tribes are uninsured because they cannot pay the insurance. To my knowledge only the US and south africa (maybe Jos might chime in) do not have an medical health care coverage provided by the government. From my pov I don't understand why not, except that the american people are being scared by FUD saying that it will be unafordable and will make healthcare even more expensive. Of course that assumption is completely false as proven by virtually all other western countries.
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>>Walter,