>Tougher penalites for companies that drop their health care coverage. The way it is now, for many companies, it's a bigger financial incentive to drop it and pay the tax.
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>That is exactly what Obama and the Dems want so that they can push forward with single payor (which is what they all wanted to begin with).
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>It's still not clear to me how the law affects Medicare. You and I are both approaching that age. Will the new bill hurt or help me as I grow older?
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>We will be considered as more "disposable" than younger people and will be denied medical care as it becomes rationed.
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>We keep hearing about how the law compares to Canada. Well, it ain't so great there. Everyday there are Canadians coming to the US because they can't get the care they need. One example I heard about recently was a man that needed open heart surgery, but there was a long waiting list. Odds are, he would die before his turn came along, but the surgery would save him. So, he came to the US to get it. How is that health care? How does the law guarantee that this won't happen here?
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>It WILL happen. What makes you think it won't?

I knew it. Death Panel scare talk is back.

My guess is Andy is not unhinged at all on this topic. He grew up with the NHS and was probably mystified at first by the American system.

This is anecdotal, just one event, but I experienced the NHS first hand and it left me with a good impression of collective health care. While working in Manchester I had a medical issue that needed attention. I did not have a doctor there and my American insurance card was as useful as dancing shoes in a nunnery. Although I wasn't even an English citizen (no no no, we're not going there) I was given an appointment for the next day and the problem was fixed. Cost: zero.

Yes, of course there is a cost of medical care which is borne somewhere. To me it's more a matter of outlook. It's better that it be part of the cost of living in an evolved society, along with other social services like police, firefighters, highway maintenance, and so on.