I know a gentleman that worked for the Quirk Auto Group who was released after major cancer surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. His life has been destroyed and he owes almost $300,000 because he couldn't work or pay $800 in Cobra costs per month.

Every time I see a fundraiser for someone, I know there are ten more someones whose health care and financial crises we don't know about.

Sounds sketchy. Like maybe it should have been a worker's ccmp claim, but maybe he didn't have that coverage, so the medical insurance company isn't paying, which they shouldn't.

"But the company changed insurance carriers recently and one carrier balked at paying Greg’s claim for 29 days in the hospital after the truck accident, leaving the couple owing $165,000." There is more to that story, as there usually is. I know people like to blame the big old insurance company for everything, but they don't just decide to not pay claims that should be covered...and an accident OBVIOUSLY would be covered. Too bad that BDN didn't care to report on the entire story.

So what is the answer? Health care is expensive. That's a fact that will not change. And there is no such thing as "affordable insurance". You'll never get a policy for $50 a month that has unlimited benefits, which is what people expect.

there is no perfect system. i prefer what we have now vs. a govt. run healthcare.

we all know veterans are not taken care of healthcare wise which is terrible. in fact it always seems to be a major talking point each election cycle. Guess who runs the heatlthcare for veterans? The govt. If they cannot take care of a small percentage of our citizens effectively how the heck do you suppose they will be able to take care of the masses. again, it;s not perfect for sure but it's better then socialized healthcare.

$165,000 for a broken collar bone? Sounds like some hospital is giving someone a screwing.

All these articles keep talking about "health care" as some sort of birthright. What on earth entitles someone to force a doctor or hospital to serve him for free? If you think the medical system eats up a huge proportion of GDP now, wait until even more people think it's free.

Government is force. That's it's only real resource. The way a government system has to work is to force people to use less medical services through rationing and a bureaucrat deciding when you're too old or too sick to bother spending money on. Or they could force doctors to work for less. When you need a doctor do you want cheap or do you want good, pick one.

Sorry tool boxes do not belong in the cab of your truck. How did you roll?

Don't know the workings of obamas new plan, sound like Congress. I suggest you become familiar withthe intricat working of obamas new BLOATED welfare program.

I would like resonable health care also but giving it free to illiegals and raising my taxes after spending 3 more trillion to get it started.. Stay off my back.

Have all of you forgot that everything the government sticks their hands in the destroy?????????Wake up and plan this thing. It is being pushed through fast so people are not informed and the GOV a.k.a. Big Brother has more control.

Do some research and interview some Canadians on national health care........

safedman -- so true! I've talked to Canadians, re: their healthcare plans . . . some are dying waiting for treatment. I know a woman who went to Boston for heart surgery. The surgeons were apalled that she had been waiting so long in Canada for the sugery. They say she could have died any minute and did the surgery right away. You are right about the current admin. This national healthcare is being "forced" on us. I talked to a woman who was all for it. Her comment was, I tried to get Mainecare and was rejected because I could be (was fit and able) working! Well, duh! She wanted it free . . . Sorry, lady, I work for mine, so should you if you are able. There is no such thing as a free lunch. What will happen to this country?

"The "Begging for Change" video, posted on YouTube by Maine's Service Employees Union"

"Obama's political operation, Organizing for America, put up a Web site last week ..."

The AFL-CIO went to Washington last week to lobby Congress....

Unions everywhere..........

"There is an organization with its tentacles deeply into the health care discussion. That group is called Health Care For America Now (HCAN). This is not a small lobbying group it is actually very large, it is comprised of 850 organizations in 46 states."

On the surface the group appears to have a good message, however its motives are not. They are the lobbying group behind the push for government run health care plan. However they go a step further they want the government to pay for it too.

HCAN’s genesis is an interesting one. It began under the auspices of the TIDES Center, a nonprofit organization that is related to the TIDES Foundation and K Street. This group is as far from grassroots as you can get, to the tune of $40 million dollars and then some.

$40 m. is being spent by K-Street professionals to tell the American people that the disaster of the U.S. health care system is due to the 'for-profit private insurance companies'.

What is the Tides Foundation?

Tides Foundation was established in 1976 by Drummond Pike as philanthropy clearinghouse that actually is a way to hide donations. Some of the notables that have donated through Tides, Teresa Heinz Kerry.

Who is Drummond Pike?

Drummond Pike is the man that repaid ACORN for the Rathke embezzlement. He admitted as much in news reports. So not only is ACORN a member of HCAN via the Tides Foundation/Tides Center, Wade Rathke just happens to sit on various boards such as Tides, ACORN and SEIU.

The new “Reform Immigration for America” umbrella group was funded through the Tides Foundation. That is the same outfit that is entangled with ACORN.

ACORN’s founder, Wade Rathke, is also on the board of Tides, and now heads the SEIU (Service Employees International Union) that is busy signing up dues-paying immigrants and organizing them—for work in such fields as health care.

Oh what a tangled web we weave...

Why isn't the MEDIA doing its job ???????? Tell the WHOLE STORY.

Well, for one thing, anyone who is honest would acknowledge that health care shouldn't be an employer-provided benefit anyway. Why does what you do for work have anything to do with how much access to medical care you should have? That's the system we have now, and it's stupid on its face. Changing it to allow everyone access is a reasonable thing to do.

And viper 13, get off your high horse. Plenty of people work hard, get sick and can't pay the bills. In general the key to happiness is being grateful for what you have and not judging other people. If you're in great health and are doing well financially, then you're blessed.

Yes, sometimes people abuse the system, but not nearly as much as Americans would like to believe. So many of us are so invested in the idea that we're better than everyone else that we prefer to let honest people suffer in order to prevent someone from cheating. That's a counterproductive strategy.

You build a system that works for most of the people most of the time. The idea that you can have perfection is ludicrous but you don't have to have a system that kills people in the name of profit, which is what we have now.

All of you that are against any change in healthcare. I beg you to bring some ideas to the table on how we fix our current problem. Putting your head in the sand is not going to make it go away! Hospitals are being crushed with the number of uninsured. These costs are being shifted to every one that does have private insurance and we are seeing our premiums go up and benefits go down.

What is so terribly wrong with a health care plan that people can afford to buy based on their income? There will always be those that are destitute and that is why we have a MaineCare system...at least that is what it is supposed to be for. Unfortunately, many of the working poor are now entering this system as currently, they have no other recourse.

Doing nothing will certainly send Health Care in crisis far quicker than any of you imagine...we may not have long waiting lines for services now but just wait.....

The bad news for working people is that the CHANGE promised by Obama really is a huge change.

An enormous, upside-down shake-up of the system that has made America the strongest, wealthiest nation in world history.

As we approach the celebration on Independence Day... think about the CHANGE that Obama is trying to put over on this country!

Forget about "...Our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

In the world of Obama, it's "YOUR Lives, SOMEBODY ELSE's Fortunes and NOBODY'S Sacred Honor!"

If this nation can survive the decay promised Obama, we may last another 233 years!

I don't want the government (taxpayer's money) to pay for my health insurance, but I would like to be able to AFFORD health insurance. $916 dollars a month WITH a $5,000 deductible is ludacris. I would have to pay at least $20,000 out of my own pocket before the health insurance would kick in. Come on, the health industry has become the albatross around everyone's neck. An even if you can afford health insurance you have to worry if they will try to reject your claim, cancel your insurance and receive notices everytime you turn around that your insurance is going up. If your fortunate even to get insurance through your employer, be thankful but don't hold your breath, if the economy stays in the tank, they are not going to be able to afford offering it anymore or you will be paying alot more for it.

Tom_Bingham says it all very well. Right on, Tom!!! If you run for president, you have my vote! :-)

I know these feelings all too well. My problem is I don't have health insurance of any kind. My husbands employer just could not keep up with the cost of of it for his employees. Well in the mean time I have suffered with bone spurs on my spine for two years now, and not one Doctor has helped me because I don't have health insurance, so I am more or less told to suffer in pain every day. I feel like I have been kicked to a curb like I am a piece of dirt. They wont even give me something for the pain besides muscle relaxants, because of all the drug addicts out there that have ruined it for those who are in true pain. Muscle relaxants for bone spurs??? What a joke. I cry on a daily basis because of the pain I am in, but with no health insurance that is the way I am going to have to live, 41 years old with a great future to look forward to don't I??? Oh and I work with kids, which is the joy of my life but being in pain everyday kind of takes the joy out of that..... I bet all of those political figures in our world don't suffer in pain everyday do they?? They would not have to go through it for one day... It really makes me mad when the Rich people talk about the economy being so bad and the Health Insurance Crisis ,,,, excuse me,,,, bad for who?? Not for them. The good old saying The Rich get richer and the poor get poorer. We all need to take a stand on these Health Care Issues, because I'm afraid its going to get worse before it gets better. I'm now in debt up to my ears with tests I have had done, 700 dollars to put six shots of Sugar Shots (Novocaine) in my neck, and it gave me relief for two days.... Wow, I really don't know what else to say...

Just remember obviously more people wanted "CHANGE" in the USA versus who didnt...hence we got OBAMA. I personally didnt want all the "CHANGES". But I'm only one vote. I think some are re-thinking what they did when they voted for "CHANGE"!

As always, I am amazed at how no one ever mentions the billions of dollars in PROFIT the insurance companies pocket every year. That money could go a long way to paying for a national healthcare plan. And as for all of you who believe that insurance companies will not deny your care, just wait until you become really ill and find out how fast you are shuffled to the back of the deck, or how quickly you will be laid off from your company because your illness has made it too expensive to keep you on.

I have a great story about the "cost" of care in this country. I heard it from a PA just yesterday. She works in a satellite clinic for the local hospital. A few months back, a patient came in with a severe migraine. He was treated with an injection of migraine medicine that was available at the clinic. As soon as he was able, feeling better, he went home. The secretary asked the PA what the billing code was for the medication. She wasn't sure, so the secretary called the hospital billing office to finish the billing statement. She nearly fainted, and asked several times if she was hearing the number correctly: $900! If the PA had known about the cost, she could have written a prescription for the medication, had the patient walk across the street to the pharmacy and purchase the medication for $40, come back to the clinic and had himself injected. This is a direct effect of insurance company profit. We need to take profit out of the equation. Our lives and health should not be based on how many new vacation homes some CEO wants to own.

I agree jaguarsky - why has people's health become a for-profit industry? They should be satisfied to cover their expenses and salaries and be happy. I wouldn't be surprised if most health insurance companies are just AIG's - spending huge amounts of money on junkets and lobbyists and bloated, unreasonable salaries/bonuses while basically killing their premium paying customers with under-handed tactics. For all you anti-Obama people on here, you don't have to worry about the country going to hell - WE ARE ALREADY THERE!!!! Do you watch the news???? We have become a nation of petty, greedy little people that only care about something when it directly negatively affects us. I may not agree with everything that Obama has or has not done, but I give the man credit for AT LEAST TRYING. Which is a hell of a lot more then I can say about our previous president on domestic matters.

My girlfriend lost her job after 13 years while being treated for an infection for a broken toe that a doctor missed. Six months and 47,000 dollars later, the hospital took her to court to pay. Insurance companies and hospitals are out to make a profit and will stick it to anyone they can. Healthcare Reform.........No such thing.

I think a lot of people are forgetting the Obama administration inherited the economic crisis the country is in, they didn't create it. And yes, it's going to cost a lot to fix the situation. It's an international problem, one faced by many nations, not just the U.S. But to fix the U.S. economy, we need healthy workers who can be productive, earn a living and purchase goods. But without health coverage, even a strep throat - which, if treated with antibiotics, is not life-threatening - can lead to serious medical problems if untreated. Check out data online, including mayoclinic.com:

Complications - By Mayo Clinic staff Although strep throat itself isn't dangerous, it may lead to serious complications if left untreated. These complications include other infections, such as:

?Tonsillitis or a collection of pus around the tonsils caused by infection (peritonsillar abscess)

?Sinus infection (sinusitis)

?Ear infection

?Scarlet fever, an illness characterized by a rash

?Inflammation of the kidney (poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis)

?Rheumatic fever

Problems with rheumatic fever - Rheumatic fever causes inflammatory deposits (nodules) to form in various tissues, including the joints, skin and muscles. These nodules also may form on the heart muscle, the lining of the heart and especially the heart valves, causing scarring that can interfere with the flow of blood inside the heart. Although surgery can sometimes repair scarred valves, the damage may be permanent. In some cases this damage may lead to heart failure. However, the risk of developing severe complications from strep throat is low in the United States.

But without a trip to the doctor (office visit or ER) to get a prescription for antibiotics, there's nothing over-the-counter that will get rid of strep. And without insurance or a way to pay for the doc visit/prescription, a person could face even more serious health issues. Many Maine folks are working 2 and 3 jobs just to keep a roof over their heads, and likely don't have or can't afford health insurance, even if the employer makes it available. I'm not blaming the insurance companies, I think the problem can be traced back to the pharmaceuticial companies who create drugs and have 'copyright' to them for a period, so that a drug that works is often too expensive for many, resulting in patients choosing to feed families rather than buying medications; also, doctors and hospitals have forgotten the hypocratic oath's do no harm and are in it for the money, not to help fellow human beings. Change is necessary on a broad level. No one has the right to say one person - because they can afford it - has a right to treatment, but the next person - because they are poor - should go untreated. This isn't a Democratic or Repbulican problem, this is a human rights issue affecting everyone.

Try $170 for a sports physical, so my child could go to a summer camp and play sports. Nothing more then saying she is physically able to play sports, nothing more then a signature and 20 minutes worth of time!!!

I don't understand... how does the insurance companies fulfilling their fiduciary duty to provide a return on their stockholders' investment make the hospial and doctor charge more? The insurance company profits when it's costs are less, not when the cost of medical services goes up. If you don't like the insurance company making a profit the answer is pretty simple, don't buy their product and they'll go out of business. Do you expect auto insurance to pay for oil changes and worn out tires? Every bill you send through the insurance company gets marked up to pay other people to shuffle paperwork and write the checks.

Another problem is that people want the latest and greatest drugs and equipment but they want it for free. People who spend years of their lives and hundreds of thousands of dollars earning an M.D. aren't going to work for the same wage as an unskilled high school graduate. The engineers and technicians who design and build the equipment aren't going to work for the same wage as the stock clerk at Wal-Mart. If you want the best and brightest to work to provide you with the goods and services that you desire, you have to pay.

I consider myself one of the fortunate ones. I am working and have health insurance, but my husband and I still struggle monthly to make ends meet, due to our co-pays on numerous medical bills (my husband has several health issues that require frequent doctor visits/prescriptions). But when we see a fund-raising can for someone in our community, we try to donate whatever we can, knowing that but for the grace of God we could easily be the ones in need of help with such bills. The reality is not everyone has access to health care; perhaps they work but can't afford $500 or more a month for insurance or their employer can't afford to offer it, or perhaps they've changed jobs and are turned down for coverage because of a pre-existing condition, or are senior citizens or disabled individuals whose income is a bit too high for state/federal medical coverage. Regardless of the circumstance, U.S. citizens should be treated equally when it comes to health care. Segregation was outlawed a long time ago, but it's creeping back into our society in the form of healthcare inequality. It's time that changed. I don't have the answer but I believe it's possible; it'll just take time to find the solution.

Tom- why should people's health be a commodity? We aren't talking about selling computers or cell phones or even owning stock in a utility company or a bank. We are talking about real people. Greed is NOT good in this or most cases. I would like to think that I am in the majority - in a self-employed working class family who hasn't been able to afford health insurance for nearly 3 years now and pray to God every night that one of us doesn't get sick or hurt before we can afford insurance again. I don't want a hand-out, I want to be able to afford to pay for my own insurance. If my premiums were roughly $500 a month with a modest out of pocket deductible, it may be hard but I could do a payment plan. But as I stated in an earlier post, I just checked with our old insurance company, we would now be paying $900 a month WITH a $5,000 deductible, which 2 people who have to meet before they would pay. That's over $20,000 a year!!!! I wish we could afford that, but sadly even though my husband work's 14 hours a day, we can't. I have been job searching for 2 years now. Been to multiple interviews but with so many people looking for jobs I haven't had any luck. I don't want a hand-out, I just want affordibility.

The answer is not to be found in the "health" insurance arena. Look to TORT reform that will allow a Dr. to treat a patient without having to order every single test available just to prevent losing his shirt to unfounded law suits.

Here's a novel idea. Raise everybody's (and I mean EVERYBODY'S) incomes taxes by $3K or $4K a year and throw that into the national health pool. Create/run the program from that instead of taxing some people more than others...and some none at all. Then, people who work hard and don't rely on free government handouts can buy their own private insurance if they don't want the shoddy government one.

franco34: What you wrote at 8:33 AM is one of the best posts I have read on the BDN comment site in a long time.

cheeta: I have been saying and thinking the same thing. Doing nothing to this inadequate healthcare system is sure not the answer. Neither is just complaining and criticizing. People from all sides of the issue need to make their voices heard.....and in places and ways where it will do the most good.

jimsgirl: I agree with you strongly about the pharmaceutical industry (and it sure is an industry!).....therein lies a lot of the problems......not all, but a lot.

Adelaide: I hear you and understand......a lot of us do!

A govt run healthcare system will be mired in expense, inneficiencies & poor quality of service. This healthcare proposal is nothing but a scam to create thousands of uneccesary jobs & ultimately, the taxpayer will yet again have to bear the financial burden of yet another failed Obama plan. TARP is not working, a govt run socialized healthacre system can't work either.

franco34 -- I didn't "judge" anyone, I'm repeating what she said to me. Those were her words, not mine. And since when is it considered being on a "high horse" when one is of the opinion that everyone should do what they can to help themselves and not depend on free handouts? I would never deny a person who could not do any sort of work those benefits, but this lady by her own admission simply did not want to work for the benefit of free medical. You are of an opinon that "differs" from mine, so you've decided to sling mud. I think you're wrong about the amount of people who abuse the system. I think it's just the opposite; I think we'd be stunned to find out the true extent of abuse of public dollars, etc. State your opinion, franco, but stop "deciding" that others whose opinions differ from your's are on a "high horse".

JospehMartin -- you are so right!

I don't get you people complaining about profits. Do you know where profits go? To shareholders. You make it sound like the insurance companies make billions in profits and just keep them. Those profits help those of us who have investments in stocks or mutual funds. It's such a problem that people in American are AGAINST businesses making money. You'd rather have the government involved, and the profit would be replaced with inefficiency and fraud?

Again, just look at Medicare and Social Security, folks. BUSTED. The government has never done anything better than the private sector. If you think it will be different in health care (again, something they've already failed miserably at) then get your head out of the sand. We need some reform, but not the federal government to take it over. You''ll regret it...mark my words.

Anything that you want someone else to produce for you is a commodity. You have no right to the product of someone else's labor. You are free to hire them to produce the product that you want or provide the service that you desire at a mutually agreed upon price. Forced labor for someone else's benefit is the definition of slavery.

Whatever you do for a living, you produce a good or service that someone is willing to purchase from you or you go broke. Medical equipment and service is an industry. People go into it because they expect that it will allow them to achieve a certain quality of life for themself and their family. People either want the services and products, and feel that they are worth what the producer or provider is asking, or they ought to do business with someone else.

Don't confuse greed with ambition. Greed is taking the product produced by others against their will. Ambition is working hard to produce a good or service that people are willing to pay you for, that in exchange provides for a better quality of life.

Not that there is anything wrong with being an industry or business. But we are talking about healthcare here. Doctors take a Hippocratic oath. Protits and industry are fine, but should not supersede American citizens accessing quality healthcare.

Profits, rather!

changeneeded - This is just my opinion, but I think it is MORALLY WRONG for profits to be the incentive behind a HEALTH insurance company. This could be life or death or financial ruin for many families. This ISN'T goods or services that people could live without. If I am ever fortunate enough to have a "portfolio" it will not include health insurance companies - period. I, for one, could not live with myself knowing the money being earned from it was due to people being denied potentially life saving procedures. I don't know if the current plan is the best, probably not. But everything else gets stonewalled or forgotten about. Again, I don't want health care for free - JUST AFFORDABLE.

Quality healthcare is accessible to all. You may not feel it's affordable (everyone has a different opinion on what exactly "affordable" is), but you have access to it. Part of the reason that it is as expensive is that accessibility. We want it all and we want it now.

Profits have not hindered that. If anything, having a private sector for profit healthcare industry, access is higher. When it's run by the Government, that's when you have to worry. Look no further than Canada.

Tom - I disagree with "Greed is taking the product produced by others against their will", I think greed is taking ADVANTAGE of people by charging ridiculous prices/fees knowing they have no other OPTION - which is precisely what has happened with the health care industry. It seems to me with several of you there is NO middle ground. When did people become so heartless and money their personal God not caring at what expense to other people, and having no capacity for compassion and empathy. I'd be willing to bet most of those opposed to the current health care reform debate get your health insurance through your employer, and if that employer can no longer afford to offer it as a benefit, you will be singing a different tune. I guess my motto is now "Not looking for a handout - I want to pay - BUT MAKE IT AFFORDABLE !!!"

adelaide: You need to put emotions aside and look at the issue realistically. This myth that people are being denied "potentially life saving procedures" because of for-profit insurance companies is 100% false. It's a lie. Have people been denied services by insurance companies? Of course. But they are denied them by for-profit and non-profit...they are denied by Government run plans. It's not the profit piece, it's called managed care. We can't have every service that we want immediately. Any system like that will go broke almost immediately.

I agree, the current system isn't perfect. But we need to focus energy in the right direction. Insurance companies administration definitely needs to be part of that equation, but quite frankly it's probably not in the top 5. We need to look at our own habits (obesity, smoking, etc.), we need to look at tort reform so doctors don't have to order every test under the sun out of fear of a lawsuit. We need to look at the actual cost of both medical and prescription. And we need to make sure that Government pays their portion of charges (Medicare/Mainecare) to providers.

changeneeded - I guess I'll never know, because I don't go to the doctor - I CAN'T AFFORD IT.

what is "affordable" adelaide? You claim that you really can't put a price on quality healthcare, but then you turn around and want it cheap. What price do you consider affordable?

If you don't get it through an employer, maybe you should get a different or a 2nd job. Or maybe you need to cut out that cable tv? Do you really need a cell phone? Or internet and the computer that yo'ure on now? Stop eating out? Quit smoking/drinking (if you do). Don't drive such a nice car. If it's that important to you, put it higher up on the list of priorities.

You have enough money to buy health insurance...i can almost guarantee that. You just don't want to use as much of your money for it.

changeneeded - listen to Rush much? Your statement about not being denied is 100% false. It was very enlightening listening to Mr. Potter who use to work for Cigna on CNN yesterday - and that is just a drop in the bucket.

Actually, never. I can't stand Limbaugh. And my statement is not false. Services are denied all of the time, but not for profit. Here in Maine, they are denied by Harvard Pilgrim just as often as Cigna or Anthem. Harvard is non-profit. So when they deny a service, it's not about profit, is it????

changeneeded - I have/am currently job hunting - if you haven't read the news - jobs are hard to come by. We only have basic cable, a pay as you go cell phone (which more times than not is not in service), only eat out once every couple of months, don't smoke/drink anymore. My car is a piece of sh*t. I do have internet - God forbid, but I don't think the $20 a month is going to put much of a dent in the $900 a month health insurance premium. I can't remember the last time I went shopping for something other then the bare necessities. Birthday's and Chrismas's are skimpy at best. We have NEVER applied for public assistance, we are too proud, we would rather go without then put our hands out. So don't sit there and judge me - you don't know me, we live very thrifty but are currently and for the past couple of years - at the mercy of the economy that through no fault of ours has been run into the ground by a greedy banks and people who never should have applied for credit did and got it. I could afford the initial $100 - 15 minute doctor's visit - it's the following tests, tests and more tests that scare the hell out of me and let's not forget prescriptions.

If you are eligible for public assistance, apply. Insurance is expensive. The state and feds have acknowledged that, and have programs for people who legitimately cannot afford it. And I say legitimately because after study shows that good chunk of the "uninsureds" in America have household incomes over $70,000. They are the people who choose luxuries over insurance.

Public assistance is a key component of the system that actually does work and is going nowhere. If you're too proud for that, I don't know what to tell you. If all of the sudden you end up in the hospital with a $300,000 bill because you were too proud to apply for Mainecare, then you'll likely be filing bankrupty. And I'd take public assistance over that option any day of the week.

The Hippocratic Oath is not a vow of poverty, it's a code of conduct that is essentially a pledge to "do no harm". In it physicians pledge not to participate in things like assisted suicide, abortion and performing procedures outside of one's areas of training.

If in fact these people are saving your life, what's your life worth? Is it worth more than your worldy possessions? Is it worth getting a second job for the next 25 years to pay the bill? It's about risk and benefit assessment. If you decide that insurance is less important than something else that you spend your money on, then you've made the decision that the other item is worth more than the risk of not having insurance. In the overwhelming majority of cases it's not that people can't afford insurance. It's that they choose not to spend the money for the kind of insurance that they feel that they're entitled to. They guess at the chance of needing medical care, and decide that the benefit of having something else outweighs the risk avoidance that they'd get from insurance.

I just can't understand the mentality of people who are convinced that they're entiltled set the price of a product or service at what they think is "fair". Where does it end? You want the physician and hospital to serve you for the price that you think is "fair", but they don't want to work for that amount. What do you want to do, call some government agency to send an agent over to hold a gun to the medical practitioner's head and tell them to serve you or die?

I don't think the price of a big house at the beach is "fair". Should the government force the owner to sell it to me for what I want to pay? I don't think it's "fair" that I have to mow my own lawn, should the government force the neighbor's kid to mow it for free?

Well, Tom...Didn't you get the memo? The government knows best. Just like with cap & trade. They don't think that we can conserve energy on our own, so they are going to do it for us.

Can you imagine in the USA, the thought that I'd have to have a government agent come to my house to inspect the windows, insulation and lighting...and if it isn't up to what they consider "efficient" I CANNOT sell my house until I get it there???? This is what your congressmen/women are pushing for, folks.

Insanity.

The reason healthcare is so expensive in this Country is because of the Federal and State governments. Medicare, which was and is probably still viewed by many as a Godsend, is responsible for creating more waste in our health care system than you can imagine. Anybody who has been in the military knows that the government excels in creating waste. Medicare sets the standards and requirements for hospitals and physicians and as a result, we have the most expensive system in the world without the best results. We don't have government telling restuarants or auto repair shops how to run their businesses, we do that by voting with our dollars and our feet. If we don't get a fair deal for our money we go elsewhere. Where else but a hospital do we go to spend thousands of dollars without asking the price first? We need to let free enterprise take over the health care business. Not only does government require a lot of nonsense of health care providers, they in turn only pay a portion of the bills for their clients, the people on Medicare and Medicaid. As a result, hospitals and physicians have to charge triple the price to those that have health insurance in order to survive. Government needs to stop meddling in healthcare and be required to pay the same price as everyone else, then our costs would all go down. As Ben Franklin once said, anything that government can do, free enterprise can do it better and for less.

Sorry for the negative answer. Been extremly negative lately. Going to stop watching the news and listening to the radio until I get my positive attitude back.

Hope you are well and no injury sustained is permanent. We do need health care reform, just do not rush into anything. Make it work.

If it was a truck accident why it was not covered by the auto insurance ? Even in Canada the auto insurance has to pay for ones medical cost foe motor vehicle accident .

What makes this guy think that if we had national health care his situation would be any better....He might still be waiting to be treated.....

Who says there anything wrong with the system we have now?...I think its fine. The people that scream the loudest about health care are the people that want it for free.

I think what many tax payers get upset with is heath care is expensive.......and many have a hard time paying for it , me included. (High deductible is all i could afford) And then you have people not from this country getting free health care. I agree with many of your points changeneeded