Man politely robs bank for $1, lands free healthcare in prison.

Problem is he was charged with robbery and not assault even though he had a weapon. This means he won't get any healthcare whatsoever. Pretty sure the suits in the government made sure of that.

I'm not sure of this guy's previous criminal, but he's beyond screwed now. People aren't going to hire him with a criminal record. He's arguably worse off than before.

And really, put yourself in the government's position. If they do give this guy healthcare that will encourage other people to disobey the law simply to have their health problems attended in prison. Can you imagine the mass civil disobedience that would ensue if they gave this guy healthcare? I understand that his health problems are severe, but I don't think he thought past step 2.

Paul did you even read the OP? You said he won't get any healthcare whatsoever, but he's already had several nurse visits and will see a doctor on Friday. Also, he's 59, so to your "he'll never get a job" bit, all he needs to do is be in prison until he reaches social security age and can start collecting those checks (all of this, again, was said in the OP).

Here's another question for you: lots of countries surrounding the United States have socialized healthcare; for this contention I'll use Canada and Cuba as examples. If you've ever seen Sicko, Michael Moore documents cases in which people from the United States have peacefully traveled to those countries in order to receive cheaper drugs and care. In fact, Michael Moore himself brought several 9/11 volunteers, who developed severe chronic health conditions while helping at ground zero and haven't received the government aid they were promised for said issues, to Cuba in order to receive the kind of healthcare they needed.

My point is thus: if more people knew about something like this, and could travel to another country, and we had mass exoduses from the United States to said countries, wouldn't the government care just as much then? I guess what I'm getting at is that, while logically yes, some idiot might attempt the same thing, ultimately there are a lot of peaceful ways of getting around the system. Technically what this man did falls under that, too.

@ Cancambo: You cite concerns for redistribution to the government, and thus taxpayers, as a major concern for socialized health care. Tell me: what are the statistics showing countries around the globe currently with socialized health care systems have suffering economies thanks to such a system?