I think healthcare should be a right, but in a flexible way. Meaning, that if your work employer provides coverage, you can keep that, but if you lose your job, then universal care takes over. If you have an emergency and you are working, but you reach your out of pocket maximum, then universal kicks in.

I see nothing socialistic about universal health care. I see it taking care of those that need health care and regular visits to stay healthy a needed change for this country.

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How is it that Healthcare is a RIGHT? What is the mandate and justification for this right? Most of the rights embedded in our constitution are things based on so-called natural law, things we would have even if their was no government. And if you believe in a theological source then these are the things that God gave us in the natural state of things. Things like free speech, freedom to assemble, freedom of religion, freedom to bear arms(to protect oneself). This is a part of the social contract, guaranteeing us the things that we enjoy in the natural world(all in the spirit of “Don’t Tread on Me”). Healthcare, however, is NOT a component of the natural order of things. In nature, you have no right or expectation to healthcare. In some species they take care of their own, in others they are savage towards the weak and sickly. So if it is not some kind of god given or natural right then what is it? I hesitate to use the word privilege as I don’t think that is a correct view either. My best guess is that healthcare is a wise move for the advancement and overall well-being of a society. A nation of sick people, unnecessarily crippled, or diseased citizens is not good for anyone. So, from a utilitarian perspective I think it is in a societies best interest to provide comprehensive medical resources to everyone. Alright, if we are agreed on that point then the question becomes whose job is it to implement and run such a system? Is it the governments? There is certainly no mandate in the constitution for any such obligation on their part. If it is, then some problems arise. I hate seeing the nonsense about government programs not being run well, after working in the healthcare field I know for a fact that Medicare is FAR better to deal with than any other insurance company. But the truth of the matter, sad as it is, is that bureaucracy and inefficiency create employment. What do you then do with the hundreds of thousands of people suddenly without a job when all the UHC and Blue Cross’s close down. The direct employees, the consultants, the medical side admin people, the suppliers of materials and services to these companies… all of a sudden you have shut down an entire industry at a time when unemployment is already growing. This loss of tax revenue could be huge, add that to the billions of dollars needed by offering healthcare and you have put quite a huge cost on a government budget that already overspends and is a disaster. Cut military spending perhaps? I’d love to see that… but again that would lead to a lot of unemployment as all the high paying and often unionized jobs at places like Boeing, Raytheon, GE, and so on are eliminated with the government contracts disappearing. So you have found a way to pay for healthcare but you have now dismantled two entire industries to do it. I’m not saying it couldn’t be done, or that in the long run it wouldn’t be a much better thing than it is now. But our political system is set up on the short term goals. What politician is going to vote for such a law if those are the consequences? Especially reps from districts with a large constituent base in insurance and military contracting industries(nevermind the giant lobbying of the military contractors and insurance industry). It would be a political death sentence for their careers. They would never support it. What a giant mess we have created! So, then what do we do? If you were running for president then what would you propose?

For the moment, we are not a socialist country. We were built on individual responsibility and hard work. When people prioritize themselves and turn off the cell phone and cable to pay for health insurance, then there is more to talk about.

We can not afford to pay for everyone’s needs and wants in this country. Something has to give, as our welfare state is just getting us more and more mortgaged for the future.

My employes spend a net of $30 a month for health insurance premium for Blue Cross. Anyone can afford this, its just a priortiy. Yet, government, in my humble opinion just needs to make sure that the uninsurable, those with major pre-existing conditions, are able to be insured.

Thanks for all the great comments! Let’s keep the dialogue open and perhaps someday our words will be heard by the Powers That Be and changes will be made.

What amazes me is when people say “oh people in other countries don’t get to choose sometimes.”

People in this country don’t get to choose either – because they can’t afford it.

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Also, I agree that there are major problems with the health insurance state in this country. However, I’m not 100% convinced that systems like they have in Canada or the UK are the answer: from what I hear from people who live there, if you have chronic health problems that are not immediately life-threatening, you may be waiting 6+ months for healthcare (IE, I know people who had to have jaw surgery for a cleft palate, but had MAJOR complications from that and had to go 6 months before they could do ANOTHER surgery to start repairing those complications, and then ANOTHER six months plus for further repairs, plus the dental work, etc.).

I’ve also been told that when it comes to care, you get what they give you: you do not get the choice of who you see or what medications to go on. If there’s some new cutting-edge treatment that you want to try, you don’t get it (unless you have extra insurance): you get what they give you, and nothing more.

We need major improvements to the system, though: that is one thing I think all of us agree on.

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your story is all too common and this is the basic problem of the American HC system. the other problem is that Sen. Obama’s plan won’t solve it. While Obama’s plan will make progress to insure uninsured Americans, and to help ease some of the cost of healthcare for the rest of us the basic contradictions of a market-based health care system will remain intact. It is a shame that the last serious proposal that the US has made to solve the healthcare problem came in 1948. I hope that the current financial crisis will, if nothing else, alert people to the very real need our country has for a universal healthcare system that really takes care of all US citizens.