Well, there were stories in the news of insurance companies refusing to insure babies because they were overweight, and after the health care bill passed, there were reports of insurance companies still looking for loopholes to not have to insure children, so if they can do that...
All I know is this: Medicare/Medicaid saved my family's butt financially. My dad had to go on it after he got really sick, and it's a good thing he did, 'cause had he not done that, my family'd be in debt up to our eyeballs right now. They paid most, if not all, the cost for practically EVERY pill, hospital treatment, etc. And he'd had a good private insurance policy before then. But he couldn't stay on it 'cause he still couldn't afford to. There's still a few minor things that we had to take care of ourselves, but they weren't very expensive things and we could afford to squeak by and get those, too.
Ironically, many people who are bitching and moaning about "Obamacare" being an intrusion (a bill, which, again, incorporated a lot of REPUBLICAN ideas, so if you're going to yell at anybody...) are generally pretty happy with Medicare/Medicaid. Remember the humor people found in the phrase "Get your government hands off my Medicare!" Ummmmmm... And until private insurance companies are more affordable and willing to cover everybody, sorry, we need an alternative. I don't have health insurance at all-I'm still looking for a job back in the town I live in currently. My mom and sister work part-time at retail stores, and they do offer some health coverage, but nothing really spectacular that could help us out. And my mom, sister, and I have been having some financial ups and downs as of late, sometimes particularly serious ones (like, for instance, there were times in recent months where my mom and I were just trying to cover the rent and food for our apartment, let alone anything else. Thankfully, we're getting help, some of it from those evil government organizations, no less!). So an option that would allow us to go for simple checkups, or go to a dentist, or treat an injury or sickness should we, god forbid, get one, would be a serious blessing.
Are there things in Medicare/Medicaid that could be fixed? Yeah. Every system has its kinks that have to be worked out. But to get rid of it altogether? No, don't agree with that. If we can manage to have both public and private options for other things going (i.e., schools, mail systems, etc.), then we can easily manage to have both a public and private health system coexist. Besides that, nobody has ever come up with an answer to why they're not bothered about the fact that they're REQUIRED to have car insurance, but when it comes to health insurance, boy, that gets their hair up.
Angela