Health care needs to be like Europe's

Yes just like Europe, where you wait months if not years to see a doctor, and if your lucky get the medication they think you need and they think they can afford. No Thanks

What the heck college did you go to that filled your head with such nonsense? I can tell you have never visited or tried to get healthcare in Europe or Canada or you wouldn't be spewing such tripe.

I agree with the writer as to universal health insurance for American citizens (I doubt that many if the detractors have actually had first hand experience with either Canadian or European healthcare coverage), however, I am troubled with his statement that he has opted out of providing for his own insurance; he certainly has adequate warning from his mother's experience. No matter his circumstance, at present, some of life's "goodies" or minor necessities must be given up in order to provide at least basic health insurance coverage. Rethink your priorities Mr. Brackett. GGpap.

College is not a minor necessity.

And who will be able get the overpaid doctors and greedy pill companies under control?

Mr Bracket, if you had universal health care, would your family have more money or would you just be able to pass your medical debt off to the "general population", the taxpayers of the country? Have you ever noticed how much of the earned income goes to taxes in countries that have the "universal health care"? I'm sorry your family has the huge medical debts, but wishing them off on the taxpayer hardly seems the way to handle them. Part of life is making the hard decisions and the long term plans. Good luck with your efforts. As you get older, you'll get better at handling all of these seemingly overwhelming facts of life. If you like the health care of Europe, go there. Don't wish it off on American taxpayers.

GGpap - I make the short list of detractors who actually HAVE real-life experience with socialist health care.

I do agree with Europoean style health care. There is a general plan for everyone, those that opt to purchase additional coverage can do so. My family members do not complain about waiting times, choice of doctors etc. Moreover, this also includes dental care, therapeutic therapies such as medicinal spas and holistic treatments. A retired family member had a total knee done, which was followed by rehab in a scednbic clinic.
Don't knock universal healthcare til you tried it.

PTHS, I do to, apparently our experience conflicts. That is as it should be. Someone (Barnum?) said, you can't fool all of the people all of the time. GGpap.

Universal healthcare holds NO advantage for taxpayers. Your choice will be to either keep your current healthcare and pay for others as well, or drop your health care and use the inferior, government run healthcare.

He also said "There's a sucker born every minute." & "Every crowd has a silver lining."

The health care problem is solved for those who choose to take advantage of it. The solution is NAET and EFT which are years ahead of anything else being done. Both are cheap, non-invasive, non-drug and fun. What more could you ask for. These two methods eliminate 80% of doctors , hospitals and cost.

Universal Health Care falls under the concept of providing for the general welfare and is an appropriate mission for Federal Government.

The solution isn't a govt run universal health care system but a govt that insures everyone can afford the excellent health care that America can provide. This idiotic mantra "let the govt take it over" is just insane. China has a universal health care system for its huge population but I wouldn't call it modern medicine. Even if it is a universal govt run system we still pay taxes to foot the bill. Never a free ride. Ironically our govt spends more money on health care than socialized european countries. Further european countries govt pays 67-87% while here we our govt pays 45% (presently). Actually when comes to the % of health costs paid by consumer then U.K. 14%, Canada 15%, Germany 8%, and the U.S. already 13%. So things won't change as dramatically as one would suspect. Most european coutries health care is financed through public and private sources (which is what we do here too already). Seems our youth are looking for the easy way and free ride approach. I guess my generation was closer to the depression and have different values. Also when you are talking about European countries remember most are the size of single states here so big difference in everything.

The solution is simple and already tried and tested: require all individuals to purchase health insurance the very same as all drivers are required to purchase auto insurance. No upheaval to the system, no new govt agencies, no further govt intervention required. We find it in our budgets to pay bills most important to us. Make health insurance more of a priority and people will find a way to pay that bill.

"Seems our youth are looking for the easy way and free ride approach" --- It's all they were ever taught, Biz.

"Promote The General Welfare" means.... Make sure that there are Doctors here. Make sure that the medicines that are sold and used are as good as can be made. Not take care of every human being here from cradle to grave. The Government should have stepped in long ago with tort reform for malpractice lawsuits. These cause the most inflation in the medical fields. Poor eugenics causes its fair share of problems too. Try to inagine how hard it is to "perform" perfectly. Then you will know how hard it is to be a Doctor. Here's some practice for you. Make some Jello and before it becomes firm, insert an M&M into the center of the mass. After it becomes firm, take it out and remove the M&M without damaging the jello(at all). That's about what it's like trying to remove a brain tumor. Any damage causes debilitating problems. Yet it's impossible to do without damage. The Best Neurosurgeons can't do it. Then they get sued for trying. Why not just stop trying? Tell that to your loved one with a brain tumor. There are successes. But for every problem, there is a lawsuit. There are many fields of speciality that have these problems.

Continued..... These "frivilous" lawsuits, usually by poor people and lawyers, looking to capitalize on unavoidable damages, cause the costs of malpractice to go up for all Doctors. The costs of doing business is passed on to the customers(patients). THAT is why Medical treatment and Medicine costs so much. In the old days, you just died. That as they say, was that. Now everyone wants to be cured. And if there treatment doesn't come out "perfect", they want to get "PAID".And Lawyers are just making it happen, cause they get PAID too. Truth is Medicine can work some "miracles" BUT, It's not perfect. The sooner people understand that, the better off we all will be. I have had two back surgeries. My doctors(Neurosurgeons) were #2 in the CSRA. The first was # 2 and the second was #2. The first was in 1991, the second was in 2001. I'll probably have to have another in 2011. Niether of these two Doctors will be in practice then. They'll have had to quit performing surgery because of malpractice insurance costs. For lawsuits caused by unavoidable collateral damage. Both are Brilliant Surgeons. Remember the M&M in the Jello. And think before you sue.

Too bad he didn't learn in Economics 101 about finite income and infinite wants and needs. What he really is saying is "I'm having to grow up and pay my own way and I don't like it"- Son, welcome to the wonderful world of adulthood.

I agree corgimom. I have a daughter in college who is coming to the realization of budgeting with priorites of wants and needs.
Initially it was all want but now she is deciphering the need part.

Tuj: Even when my customers sign a waiver, they still try to make claims for damages caused by their own decision to refuse my recommendations. I agree people sue Dr's far too much. I sure as hell wouldn't spend 10 years post high school just to lose it all the first time I screwed up.

The first line defense medical field is dying-family practice, pediatrics, etc. as most graduating medical students seek the more lucrative specializations. I have a large number of family members who are physicians (ages 80s to 40s) and all recommend to young people not to pursue medicine. The trials and cost of attaining the degree outweigh the benefits. The costs of running an office (business), malpractice, being sued, paying off student loans, and still having little free time to enjoy your earnings is exhausting. Obviously there are much easier ways to make a living with Ponzi schemes. hee,hee,hee.

ITDoc, For Neurosurgery it's 16 years, try that and do the jello test. You cannot not cause damage to the brain. The brain is like jello. For a Cardiothoracic Surgeon it's 16 years. Think of having to perform surgery on a kid who will die tomorrow without surgery. Then you get in there and you can do no good. You try and hope but, it's too little too late. Then the parents get a call from a lawyer, hours after the funeral. That's a sobering reality. Then think of the Mental strain that a doctor has to calm to pick up a scalpel. I suffered a laceration to one of my cheeks once. A jagged angular tear through the skin over my cheekbone. I knew that the lac would make a terrible scar. I went to a Plastic Surgeon. He deadened my face. I lay on the table waiting for him to begin. I knew he would have to clean the laceration edges up to make the site heal without heavy scarring. As the scalpel came towards my face, it was shaking terribly......he paused a second and said,"Too much coffee this am." I laughed. I said, " Doc, I am not worried." He continued. Again the scalpel was shaking bad. When the blade touched my skin, it was like his hand was made of stone.

Continued......He finished the clean-up and I said, "See, I told you I wasn't worried." He asked, "Why didn't you close your eyes?" I said," I wanted to see a master at work." He laughed and then sutured it up. I wont say that I don't have a scar, but it will never be seen. He was once head of Plastics at MCG, I think the handshake caused him to have to leave, though i'm not sure. But I'll tell you this,he can cut on me anyday.

Isn't it strange that a "academic" medical related Ph.D. degree also runs 4-6 years then usually a couple of post-docs to add up to ten years. Then compared to the professional degrees-physician, dentist, or lawyers- and look at the dramatic differences in incomes. Weird.

To be a Doc is an altruistic thing. The income allows for the best lifestyle materially, but the sacrifices made far outweigh the benefits earned.

I have a friend whose mother lives in England. She was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and the first thing they thought about was bringing her to the States so she wouldn't have to wiat for treatment. Canada's system is no better. You have to wait 10 months for a room on a maternity ward, 6 months for an MRI. Mike, what did you get your degree in? And what has the government managed recently that has saved us money and went well?

If the sacrifices so outweigh the benefits i would think we would have a lot fewer doctors. If you want to see the true sacrfices outweighing the benefits, look at cops,firemen,emts, and nurses. soldout:NAET and EFT are hokum. Same as Reiki and therapeutic touch (which I'm ashamed that some of my fellow nurses adhere to). It's called quackery and it's been around for centuries.

Tech: Correct about all those underappreciated and underpaid professions. Question: How will government universal healthcare draw the best and brightest to devote their lives to essentially what becomes a government job? Without those lofty rewards to entice them, they will choose other paths, leaving us ALL with lower quality at any price.

ALL the physicians I know are workaholics. One just took the first "real" vacation in like ten years. Seem to have little time to enjoy their earnings-they live to work rather than work to live. I attended a medical school at one time and realized that it isn't just having the intellect to succeed but a huge amount of time and sacrifice. Most spend little time with their kids. I guess I'm a work to live kinda person. Too much responsibility and I'd be crying all the time if I had to tell someone to bend over and kiss their butt goodbye because your a gonna die. Dang. I would have a pleasant bedside manner however-hee,hee,heee.