Medical Insurance can cost $12,000 per year for a family if everyone's healthy. That's a new car every two or three years. Or every year. That's a down payment on a house. That's a mortgage. And that's ridiculous.
It's why Honda and Toyota are in better shape than GM, Ford, and Chrysler. The government takes care of the health care needs of Japanese auto workers – and everyone else.
We need a single payer system, or Medicare for all Americans.
People say this is "socialized" medicine. But the alternative - "anti-social" medicine - is terrible. Medicare works very well for everyone I know over 80. Insurance works poorly at best, whether you're employed, self-employed, or unemployed. I have friends who are out of work and who have no access to medical care, was there myself. When I was out of work I couldn't afford health insurance. (My kids were covered, thanks to Bill Clinton and SCHIP.)
There are some things that the government must do. Nobody believes that police and fire-fighters should be private for-profit companies. Private armies and private police forces are what you see in places like Iraq and Columbia.
Think of the national security implications. If I am near someone who is sick, and who can't go to the doctor – I'm exposed. I'm in danger. So's my wife, so're my kids. I have a family. As a father I don't want my kids exposed because some poor guy lost his job.
Bush and McCain actually said "We have a national health care policy - it's "Go to the Emergency Room."
This is great when you break your arm or get hurt. But it costs you and me more for some un-insured guy to go to the emergency room for a check-up then to go to see a physician in an office. And Emergency Rooms are not clinics. They can't do anything if you have high blood pressure or diabetes, unless you had a stroke or a heart attack or you're in a coma. And then it's too little to late.
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