Raptor you have to realize that right now there is a sort of Civil War brewing in the USA. Part of the country wants the Federal Government to take control of our everyday lives, and part of the country does not. I happen to believe that the Federal Government has no business whatsoever being a part of my everyday life. I firmly believe that this country was formed primarily with that ideal in mind, and this is shown time and time again in the US Constitution.
Because of this, it does not matter how "cheap" Federal healthcare could be.. or how "efficient" it could be.. none of this matters.. period. The Feds could come up with the most thought out, masterful plan in the world and I still wouldn't support it. Now, when you add in how expensive and inefficient proposed Federal healthcare plans are.. it just makes the joke that much more laughable. Yes, the healthcare industry needs some reworking.. nobody is arguing that, but I firmly believe that it would be much more beneficial for the Feds to use the FDA to impose more rules on the pharmaceutical companies. There are ways of fixing this without the Feds taking it over completely.
I do believe that in general, the system isn't broken. The way it is now, anyone can walk in from the streets (legal or not) and get care at any hospital. At my work, I have some of the best insurance, it is reasonably priced for myself AND my employer... and this is a no deductible and no lifetime limit kind of deal. As for pre-existing conditions... well I think it's blown a little bit out of proportion... YES I know.. the people fighting it aren't agreeing with me, but this isn't so much of a problem with employer supplied insurance... mostly only applies to private insurance policies.. but there are ways of fixing this without taking it over altogether. I had back issues in the past with different insurance.. I still have back issues now.. I've never had an insurance claim rejected because of it.
There are also programs that have been in place for decades to help out low income families with healthcare services. Heck, my ex- sister in law purposely left her own daughter off of her own insurance plan (through her work) so she could lie to the government about her income and get welfare, food stamps, WIC, and free healthcare for her daughter. It was blatant abuse of the system and ticked us off profoundly... but that's a different story altogether. The simple truth is that there are not that many people on the streets who are dying from the flu because they couldn't get treated. The few that this DOES happen to refuse to see a doctor in the first place.
What I fear most is that the US will succumb to these people who think the government should be obligated to supply everything they need in life, and in exchange we will become powerless as a nation to stop any of it... and our country will become exactly what it was that we fought against in the first place. I have always been amazed at how quickly we grew as a nation... both in size AND in power... in such a relatively small period of time (couple hundred years). Something had to have fueled all of this... and that something is being lost a little bit every day, right out from under people's noses.. and it's ALMOST to the point that people don't even know what that something is anymore. That something is self-dependence.. both as a nation and as individuals. We ARE the USA, and until people realize this once again it's going to be a hard uphill battle...
