Re: OT: Physicians for a National Health Program

[Nomen Nescio <nobody@xxxxxxxxx>]

Jim's absolutely right.  It is a national fucking disgrace that 46 million
citizens don't have health insurance.  Hillary's "make everybody buy
insurance" program is just a windfall for the insurance industry, and not a
solution to the problem.

The people who think our present system is so great are the people with
good insurance and/or lots of money.  But there are lots of people out
there who can't get insurance at any price due to their health histories:
insurance companies don't want to cover sick peope.  If those people have a
life-threatening emergency, they can get care.  For less urgent medical
problems or chronic illnesses, they get to pay full retail price, often way
more than the rates charged patients with insurance who have the same
problems.

Medical expenses are one of the leading causes of personal bankruptcy in
this country.  How many of you could pay a six-figure hospital bill if you
had no insurance?

Maybe we can't afford unlimited care for everybody.  Heart transplants may
be too expensive.  But every American deserves a basic level of medical
care, just like the citizens of every other civilized country in the world.
And no one should be driven into the poorhouse because he got sick, all so
that some hospital and doctors can turn a profit.