Would Superman, qualify for health insurance?

[ElScoob]

Interesting stuff to think about.

It doesn't apply as easily in something like Superman Returns, where it's a bit of a standalone situation, but in the comic-book DC universe there seems to be kind of a default assumption that Bruce Wayne tends to pick up the tab for a lot of stuff (certainly for Justice League-related situations). Whether that's Bruce funneling cash through various sources on the DL, or perhaps even directly and publicly giving the Justice League an endowment via the Wayne Foundation, he seems to be pretty happy to foot the bill.

As far as legal liabilities go, yeah, a lot of the time (certainly in the Silver Age) there is talk of Superman having been freely granted legal authority to act by a variety of Federal or local agencies (I seem to recall that in the pre-Crisis era that Superman had been given honorary citizenship in every nation on Earth, or something to that effect, which seems to cover any worries about him being an 'illegal alien'). Various incarnations of the Justice League have been said to have some kind of official sanction of the UN as a peacekeeping organization, as well, and I assume that to some degree that UN member nations will recognize that authority.

In Batman's case, in different interpretations he's said either to have been formally deputized by the Gotham City Police Department or simply to be an illegal vigilante unofficially tolerated by same. So on the one hand I guess he'd be subject to the same protections as any police officer, whereas on the other it'd be a matter of, "You wanna sue Batman? Fine, we'll add that to the list." Ultimately, it'd be a matter of having to catch him first.

--g

 

[Sci]

I think that Superman's policy would have a clause about not covering any Kryptonite related incidents. Something like that.

Which would be a pretty useless policy for Superman to have,

An insurance policy that's not worth having because it won't actually pay for major expenses even if you have dutifully paid into its plan for years and years? Say it isn't so!

 

[wamdue]

I think that Superman's policy would have a clause about not covering any Kryptonite related incidents. Something like that.

Which would be a pretty useless policy for Superman to have,

An insurance policy that's not worth having because it won't actually pay for major expenses even if you have dutifully paid into its plan for years and years? Say it isn't so!

whats funny is that I can see such a debate happening to help explain things in the white house/house of representatives etc

 

[coolghoul]

I was having this discussion with a friend and we determined that Superman (according to most reincarnations) is here under false papers. He is not a US citizen by birth (he was born elsewhere - unless we are talking about that birthing matrix thing that John Byrne came up with). The Kents report a lost child and the orphanage takes it from there. So Clark Kent is legally not a US citizen and has to undergo naturalization. (Was there a silver age story with the INS going after Supes?) He's actually living under false pretenses and misrepresenting himself to everybody as a US Citizen. (Bet that makes his boy-scout sense of honor go all queasy)

Supes is even more obviously an alien (Man from Krypton - so unless Congress passed a law saying that Superman is going to be considered a citizen..) and there are people in the US who do not want to provide any insurance/healthcare whatsoever to illegal aliens. And which country is he from? Krypton is a planet - not a country that is recognized by the US govt surely)

 

[Christopher]

And which country is he from? Krypton is a planet - not a country that is recognized by the US govt surely)

Superman could apply for refugee status.

A refugee is a person who is unable or unwilling to return to his or her native country due to a well-founded fear of persecution or because the person's life or freedom would be threatened. To apply for refugee status, the applicant must be physically located outside the United States.

Since he'd lose his powers under a red sun and there's no air or food or water or ground to stand on anymore, his life would certainly be threatened if he returned to his native country.

 

[wamdue]

and he could spend sometime in London, to get around the "the applicant must be physically located outside the United States" bit, that or just apply for asylum with the Men in Black.

 

[Christopher]

I think it's easy enough to conclude that Superman's presence on Earth would lead to whole new legislation. He'd be the precedent-setting case that could then be followed by others like J'onn J'onnz.

 

[USS Triumphant]

I think it's easy enough to conclude that Superman's presence on Earth would lead to whole new legislation. He'd be the precedent-setting case that could then be followed by others like J'onn J'onnz.

I remember DC playing around with the United States having an Alien Registration Act in the aftermath of Invasion! in the late 80s - but aside from a scene with Kilowog grousing about it while riding in a taxi, I don't recall it amounting to much.

 

[coolghoul]

And which country is he from? Krypton is a planet - not a country that is recognized by the US govt surely)

Superman could apply for refugee status.

A refugee is a person who is unable or unwilling to return to his or her native country due to a well-founded fear of persecution or because the person's life or freedom would be threatened. To apply for refugee status, the applicant must be physically located outside the United States.

Since he'd lose his powers under a red sun and there's no air or food or water or ground to stand on anymore, his life would certainly be threatened if he returned to his native country.

Good point, Christopher.

Not sure what the US govt says about this - but does it allow refugees from countries just cos it had a huge Tsunami or flood or earthquake? Cos losing his powers, he'd be close to human but hey humans live everywhere on Earth! Basically not sure if a Natural Disaster (is Krypton's destruction "natural"? - there is a sense that it might have been due to the Kryptonians following ecologically unsafe practices. But there are several different ways people have interpreted that) can lead to people being granted Refugee status.

Maybe he can say that all the Phantom Zone criminals are out to get him and claim "persecution"

 

[The Comedian]

Superman is covered by the Justice League's group plan.

 

[CommodoreKong]

I think it's easy enough to conclude that Superman's presence on Earth would lead to whole new legislation. He'd be the precedent-setting case that could then be followed by others like J'onn J'onnz.

Yeah if well written something like that could make for an interesting story, along with a good ongoing storyline. Maybe even a storyline where is was decided that aliens couldn't legally live on Earth?



Perhaps someone who reads a lot of DC comics can help me with this. I've only read a few comics with Superman (such as Public Enemies and Kingdom Come) and one of the things I've wondered about is people's reaction to Superman in the DC Universe. Are there any major alien hate groups who want him and any other aliens off the planet? Are there any cults or even larger religions who consider him to be a god (something I though should of been explored with Doctor Manhattan in Watchmen). What is the position of various religious organizations on Superman and other superpowered heroes? Any countries where superpowered people are against the law and not allowed to enter?
Or is it that super powered individuals are just common enough that their presence doesn't bother most people?

 

[Hartzilla2007]

Interesting stuff to think about.

It doesn't apply as easily in something like Superman Returns, where it's a bit of a standalone situation, but in the comic-book DC universe there seems to be kind of a default assumption that Bruce Wayne tends to pick up the tab for a lot of stuff (certainly for Justice League-related situations). Whether that's Bruce funneling cash through various sources on the DL, or perhaps even directly and publicly giving the Justice League an endowment via the Wayne Foundation, he seems to be pretty happy to foot the bill.

As far as legal liabilities go, yeah, a lot of the time (certainly in the Silver Age) there is talk of Superman having been freely granted legal authority to act by a variety of Federal or local agencies (I seem to recall that in the pre-Crisis era that Superman had been given honorary citizenship in every nation on Earth, or something to that effect, which seems to cover any worries about him being an 'illegal alien'). Various incarnations of the Justice League have been said to have some kind of official sanction of the UN as a peacekeeping organization, as well, and I assume that to some degree that UN member nations will recognize that authority.

In Batman's case, in different interpretations he's said either to have been formally deputized by the Gotham City Police Department or simply to be an illegal vigilante unofficially tolerated by same. So on the one hand I guess he'd be subject to the same protections as any police officer, whereas on the other it'd be a matter of, "You wanna sue Batman? Fine, we'll add that to the list." Ultimately, it'd be a matter of having to catch him first.

--g

And which country is he from? Krypton is a planet - not a country that is recognized by the US govt surely)

Superman could apply for refugee status.

A refugee is a person who is unable or unwilling to return to his or her native country due to a well-founded fear of persecution or because the person's life or freedom would be threatened. To apply for refugee status, the applicant must be physically located outside the United States.

Since he'd lose his powers under a red sun and there's no air or food or water or ground to stand on anymore, his life would certainly be threatened if he returned to his native country.

And which country is he from? Krypton is a planet - not a country that is recognized by the US govt surely)

Superman could apply for refugee status.

A refugee is a person who is unable or unwilling to return to his or her native country due to a well-founded fear of persecution or because the person's life or freedom would be threatened. To apply for refugee status, the applicant must be physically located outside the United States.

Since he'd lose his powers under a red sun and there's no air or food or water or ground to stand on anymore, his life would certainly be threatened if he returned to his native country.

Good point, Christopher.

Not sure what the US govt says about this - but does it allow refugees from countries just cos it had a huge Tsunami or flood or earthquake? Cos losing his powers, he'd be close to human but hey humans live everywhere on Earth! Basically not sure if a Natural Disaster (is Krypton's destruction "natural"? - there is a sense that it might have been due to the Kryptonians following ecologically unsafe practices. But there are several different ways people have interpreted that) can lead to people being granted Refugee status.

Maybe he can say that all the Phantom Zone criminals are out to get him and claim "persecution"

Actually according to Infinite Crisis Krypton is a bunch of large chunks of kryptonite meaning if you goes back his planet will kill him.

 

[coolghoul]

Actually according to Infinite Crisis Krypton is a bunch of large chunks of kryptonite meaning if you goes back his planet will kill him.

Thanks! (But it's still a Natural Disaster - not religious or political persecution which "typically" applies to the Refugee status. I don't know if Natural Disasters affecting the country/place of origin qualifies)

Maybe I'm confusing with older stuff (I am not very aware of the continuity of things) but I thought when it exploded, those chunks of kryptonite left that red sun and started travelling thru space. Hence Argo City (I think - from where the original Supergirl came from - I have no clue about current Supergirl or PowerGirl origins). I might also be getting confused by Smallville where chunks of kryptonite showed (The Meteor Shower leading to Freak-of-the-Week villains in the early season).

Are those chunks still where Krypton was? Or have they "left" the solar system and are travelling in all directions? Technically, it should become something like an asteroid belt (assuming for some reason that planets can explode like that) but I don't know what they are in current continuity.

 

[Christopher]

^In the DC Animated Universe, the remnants of Krypton formed a debris belt in its orbit, but a fair number of chunks travelled through the hyperspace portal that delivered Kal-El's spacecraft to Earth. That's a fairly typical interpretation: some stayed, some travelled. And it's fairly realistic (that being a relative term); even if there were some kind of force that could cause a whole planet to blow up from the inside, it's unlikely it would have enough power to accelerate the debris sufficiently to escape the gravity of the system's star; more likely it would remain in orbit, not too far from where it had been. In fact, it would eventually coalesce back into a new planet. I recall an '80s Superman comics story in which Superman returned to Krypton's system, and it was actually stated that the debris would eventually form a new planet. They did a halfway decent job researching the science that time.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Actually according to Infinite Crisis Krypton is a bunch of large chunks of kryptonite meaning if you goes back his planet will kill him.

Isn't that why Supes is wearing a full suit of body 'armor' in Superman Returns when he visits the site?

 

[Starbreaker]

I can't believe this has turned into a discussion.

 

[!LuvKJ]

Interesting stuff to think about.

It doesn't apply as easily in something like Superman Returns, where it's a bit of a standalone situation, but in the comic-book DC universe there seems to be kind of a default assumption that Bruce Wayne tends to pick up the tab for a lot of stuff (certainly for Justice League-related situations). Whether that's Bruce funneling cash through various sources on the DL, or perhaps even directly and publicly giving the Justice League an endowment via the Wayne Foundation, he seems to be pretty happy to foot the bill.


--g

My guess would be that the JL is quite a profitable venture for Wayne Enterprises. I'm sure all of the alien technology and crap they run across can be "laundered" into Earth society through R&D patents through Wayne Enterprises making Wayne a ton of cash.

I imagine building a giant space laser isn't cheap, even for someone like Wayne, so he must be recouping it somehow.

 

[David cgc]

And which country is he from? Krypton is a planet - not a country that is recognized by the US govt surely)

Superman could apply for refugee status.

A refugee is a person who is unable or unwilling to return to his or her native country due to a well-founded fear of persecution or because the person's life or freedom would be threatened. To apply for refugee status, the applicant must be physically located outside the United States.

Since he'd lose his powers under a red sun and there's no air or food or water or ground to stand on anymore, his life would certainly be threatened if he returned to his native country.

I'm reminded of the Superman Deported short.

"The United States Government is very sympathetic for your situation, but the economic or, um, physical condition of Krypton is not our concern."