>I have been thinking more about what you said yesterday about the health care reform bill being premium health insurance for all. That would really surprise me. I liken it to Social Security. That was never intended to make every retiree rich. It was intended to protect people from becoming destitute.

Exactly.

This "reform" is not designed as a minimum safety net as it should have been.

Free/cheap clinics designed to be second class with long lines, generic meds, and explicitly limited to "basic care" would be a great addition to our health care system. A safety net for the indigent, working poor, and any of us whose luck runs out.

Unfortunately, this monster is explicitly designed to wreck our existing insurance system.
The requirement that insurance companies must issue to everybody regardless of health will bankrupt insurance companies almost immediately.

Instead of providing first class care to the uninsured - we are on our way to providing second class care for everyone.
Such is socialism.