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Just to get my [img]graemlins/2cents.gif[/img] in on public healthcare. I think a minimum amount of health care should be available to all Americans. While I understand the need to let people keep as much of their earnings as possible, I think free basic health care far supercedes many "public aid" programs we currently have. I see it as a public health and safety issue: in short basic minimum healthcare is in my mind akin to police protections -- letting everyone live with some modicum of safety and security. I think it's more relevant welfare than food stamps, for instance, or AFDC (which is good in theory but troubled in practice).
Now, in the US there are a few things people may not understand about health care. Unless, I'm mistaken, a Dr. cannot refuse to treat a patient -- even if that patient is $10K behind in paying his/her bills. As well, there are numerous free (or VERY cheap) clinics all over the USA that provide many basic services.
Finally, insurance. This is supposed to solve it in theory. I must admit, I go to the dentist and don't pay one red cent. Of course, I'm on my wife's very nice government employee insurance policy. The problem is that not all employers offer group insurance policies and that insurance companies treat you like s**t if you don't have a group policy. I think a lot of the USA's health care woes stem not from privatization of health care, but from the insurance companies holding so much power over employers, doctors, and the insured.
For instance, and Attalus might be kind enough to confirm this, a doctor wanting to perform surgery on a patient typically has to make sure the operation is covered under insurance. It may be common knowledge that it will be, but in many instances, the Dr's staff must call up the insurer and ask if it is covered. So, the question as to whether or not a patient *needs* a surgery falls not to the Dr. but rather to some snotty-nosed 19-yr-old who works for a subcontractor fielding phone calls for the insurance company and cross-referencing Dr. requests with some matrix of "covered surgeries." [img]graemlins/dontknowaboutyou.gif[/img]
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