What usually allows people to gain wealth is inheritance, and hard work, not necessarily together. Companies have to make a profit. What started all this was health insurance which was promoted by the unions. It's made healthcare unaffordable, and made people hypochodriacs.

There are people out there that could buy health insurance, but they won't. They expect someone else to pay for their HC. Mostly the people now who don't have HC are pretty poor, and they usually have some sort of HC. We already have a lot of free HC in this country, it's just not universal. I think it will mean all will suffer for the few. Nobody will get the best care anymore unless you pay out of pocket, and some people will buy HC anyway as a supplement if this will be allowed, but some countries don't allow supplemental plans with the universal HC. I think it will be a mess. I think to some degree your health is your own business. People expect too much from government. Too much spreading the wealth around.

I want us to go back in time to the mid-90's. You all remember all the scandal and the headlines regarding HMOs and their limiting the care a patient can receive??? Well, what do you think is going to happen under a national healthcare system???? Don't believe that, well it already occurs. Currently Medicaid/Medicare will only reimburse for certain tests and procedures associated with a diagnosis. What does this mean, well in the for profit hospitals, it means that if the doctor orders tests that are not covered by Medicaid/Medicare the patient is charged for the tests. In not for profit hospitals, many times those test do not get reimbursed and then the cost is passed on to the paying customers, the same is true in for-profit hospitals for tests that patients fail to pay for.

So if we go to a national healthcare system there will be two-tiers of treatment, the treatment for those who can pay or have private insurance, in which the doctors will order the necessary test and the treatment for all those without because the government will only allow certain tests and procedures to be performed, the HMO's all over again!!!!!!!!!! Why because government is responsible.

FUrthermore, until such time as people have a financial stake in the healthcare people will continue to abuse the system. This abuse is what has driven the costs so high, coupled with dubious litigation.

People who have no financial burden abuse the system terribly, for example showing up in the ER for a sore throat in the middle of the night, or because they have a cold, and want that free home-pack. Because of people like this the ER is more crowded than it should be, as a result that means more staffing is required, which means higher payroll which results in higher costs. Hell even folks with insurance are guilty of this practice. Because we want it now, the ER has become a glorified acute care center.

Until such time as there is in place a financial burden on those who miuse the system prices will continue to rise.

Now regarding litigation, when a doctor makes an flagarant mistake he should face a financial burden like any other business. However, medicine is not an exact science. As an adult if I were to show up in the ER complaining of chest pain, or perhaps I just say indigestion or heart burn, immediately the doctor must rule out an MI. Meaning thanks to that spicy mexican dinner I just ate, I am incurring some $4000 worth of testing. Why, this is CYA medicine, COVER YOUR ASS.

The next time Candidate Edwards talks about healthcare, someone, anyone should have the balls to ask him if he feels in anyway responsible for the increase in prices. FOr those of you that don't remember it was said Edwards who as a lawyer sued OB/GYN on behalf of parents with children born with down syndrome, the same Edwards who miraculously during closing arguments connected with that unborn child and made statements like hey I am trapped how about some help, or hey I am not doing so good, and convinced the juries that because these doctors delayed or did not perform C-sections the results were the child having down syndrome.

Well folks, the science is now in, delays in delivery have nothing to do with down syndrome. They do not cause it nor do they contribute to it. Edwards made his vast fortune as a trail lawyer, causing the cost of insurance for doctors who did not wrong to go up, which in turn made the cost of their services increase. So the next time Edwards talks about healthcare, he should be asked if he has any plans to return any of the money into the system that he helped increase in cost.

dmk

Any system that is based upon the premise of from each according to their abililty to each according to their need can and will never be a great thing. Who determines the need?? Who determines the ability?? You end up with a society in which everyone will demostrate need, and no one will wish to demostarte ability. For if you have ability you become responsible for those with need. No!!!! It should my decision whether I wish to help someone, and for what reasons, I should not be forced to do it. By forcing those with ability, you eventually find that fewer and fewer will have ability and more and more will have need.

dmk

Again, you look at it the wrong way.

It is a society that understands that each segment of society is as valuable and necessary to the success of the nation as any other. From the doctor to the garbage collector, the pay and benefits gap is simply narrowed purposely so everyone is taken care of (since everyone is needed and valued).

The result is more people have more luxuries and vacation time when compared to America (not less).

So instead of having a Benz and a 7 bedroom home the doctor has an Accord and lives in a 4 bedroom home. I think they will be ok Sarge... as the rest of the socialists enjoy a 5 week paid vacation.

Sorry, again you failed to see the common sense application of the failed system. If you pay a doctor the same a factory worker, why would anybody in their right mind go through with the hard work of 3 years of Medical School, 4 more years of residency, and then any where from 3 - 6 additional years of specialty to become a doctor, when all they have to do is go work in a factory.

You are paid according to your value. Unfortunately the value of a doctor is higher than that of a garbage man. If you don't like your value then it is up to you to do what is necessary to increase it.

dmk

It isn't as black and white as that sarge. A doctor would absolutely NOT be on the same level as a factory worker, in fact he would have far more luxeries in life, but the gap wouldn't be as unnecessarily large between the two as we find in America. You are still paid according to your value and hard work matters.

Everyone isn't as valuable. Many are more valuable than others. A garbage collector is easily replaced. A doctor is less easily replaced.

Government shouldn't determine what we have. We should be able to work for and achieve our own success, or failure.

Have you looked at Europe? Most people have less. But still they have very wealthy people. You can't get rid of those pesky wealthy people. They have more vacation time, less jobs, and crappy economies.

Anyone smart enough to be a doctor is going to go where the money is. If he can't make it as a doctor in his country, he'll come to America and be a doctor here. Then you'll have shortages, and you'll have to start paying them more to stay.

If what you said above had any truth behind it teachers would be paid more in this country.

I think the doctors would disagree if their trash stopped getting picked up all of the sudden. No, everyone is not as valuable but that doesn't mean that they should not have the basics covered for their hard work. Everyone should be able to earn a livable wage regardless of profession and everyone should have access to affordable medical care (This does not mean paying over $100 a month to an insurance company). Health care is an obvious human right.

They have longer vacations, shorter work weeks, more luxeries and more benefits than us (especially Scandinavia).

And there are SOOOOO many other benefits when basic human needs are provided like lower crime, higher literacy, etc.