Marcia,

Could we stop this crap please. Questioning individuals right to speak up along the line of military service or even on the amount of tax you pay is silly. No-one buys any more rights on the amount of taxed payed. Every vote is counted equally no matter your intelligence, years of service, mental/physical state, ethnicity, origin, ancestry.

Your political views are clear, but lets please respect everyones viewpoint. Up here in europe we have different ideas about healthcare. you might be of the opinion that healthcare has to be earned by individuals through achievement, the most citizens here believe it should be a constitutional right for everyone. We believe that young cancer patients (say children) that did not have any chance to protect themselves against certain bankruptcy, should not receive any different treatment than lets say a bankdirector who has made his fortune by unethical practices.

My father died early this year at the age of 73 as a result colon cancer. towards the end of his life, his treatment and care cost a fortune, all covered by basic insurance that almost every citizen has up here. From several high tech medication and chemo, surgery, checkup visits, patient care at the hospital and at home; all was covered. Even though the costs of health insurance is high, it still is roughly half of what an average individual pays in the US, for even far less service. Personally I've been through some rough time as well, with a severe condition that needed high tech treatment. I would likely not be here anymore, if I did not get it or were unable to pay for it. Only the ones that never encountered such dramatic event do find themselves paying too much for healthcare: I'm not complaining.

You might think differently, but l respect that, but lets respect that others have a different opinion. Your government has identified that the current situation of healthcare is that one of a 3rd world country (where only the richest can afford adequate care) and the costs for the current system that is available for all others (e.g. medicare) is tremendously high because of all kinds of reasons. Since I'm working in the field of healthcare and my (practical) knowledge of how healthcare drives certain businesses in the US, tells me that the way that your healthcare currently run, is one based on pure commerce. That has to be tied down (regulation) to control the costs. Reintroduce the model of a GP (PCP) again to be the filter for cases that now go through a specialist that runs all kinds of unneeded expensive tests to a. Avoid making the slightest change of making mistakes that will cost them their career. b. avoid lawsuits, c. Make extra profit.

You were talking about waiting lists. Well, I can call my GP for an appointment in the morning, visit her later that same day, get my medication, without drawing my wallet once. Though in the past waiting lists were longer, they now almost have dissapeared. Many of the waiting lists had nothing to do with the capacity at the medical centers (e.g. cataract surgery), but more with dum political decisions to set quota. OTOH, the average waiting time for ER in the US is arround 222 minutes, against around 60 minutes up here. In all cases where I've been there over the years with family members we were helped within 30 minutes.

Is our system perfect? No of course not. There still are waitinglists, though a lot shorted than a few years ago, also because there are a lot more possibilities to get treatment elsewhere and there is a lot of health shopping available. There also is a lot of bureaucracy of middle management that makes things expensive and physicians do tend to bill for more than warranted. And if I really think that I can get better care somewhere else, there is nothing stopping me for paying for it and going abroad to get it.

I can accept your take on this is different from mine, knowing you as a person that believes in low taxes, taking your own responsibility of finances and e.g. own health(care). And really as a rightwinger (by dutch definitions though), I can even go a long way with that. However, I also realize that some aspects of life are not under our control and we as a society have the obligation to help each other when one needs help. I'd like to think that we are past the point that we leave one with a broken leg on their own. That very same person could very beneficial to the society when he is getting care. The same applies on a much bigger scale. What does it cost to US, not giving adequate healthcare? This goes way beyond the question of what the actual healthcare costs to take care of ones individual problem. It is about the question what this individual can contribute to the country when he is being taken care off. Healthcare is not only about emergency help, but also prevention and ensuring the wellbeing of every citizen in a way that they are in the best shape to make a contribution to society. And that is unfortunately something that is seriously overlooked in the US, IMO. I've spend enough time in the US to see what the difference is.

I do know that your own experience is based on the performances of the UKs' NHS. I'd like to point out that the NHS is not to be taken as the only example of nationalized healthcare. It certainly has its flaws. There are all kinds of variations on this implementation. In the Netherlands, we have a model that takes the best of two worlds. The care is insured by commercial insurers, but are strongly regulated by the government. They have been given a certain amount of space to drive their business, but have to conform a minimum standard. Healthcare (commercial or public) providers are subject to strong regulation of what they can charge for certain procedures. Through regulations all parties are given a window in which they can operate their business and clients are free to choose their insurer based on the characteristics of their offerings

Walter,