Do you think there is a problem with our current health care system?

yeah, there are plenty of problems, one of which being the fact that large insurance companies are in business to make a profit...who gives a sh*t about providing health care! Since when should an insurance provider worry more about the bottom line than help people try to keep costs down? Just found out today that I won't be getting a pay increase again next year...two years in a row now..but guess what? You can be damn sure my insurance premiums will go up at least another %10!!!! what a joke!

I agree with you, but I think that we'll disagree on the root of the problem and the solutions :-)

If you research history, you will find that the cost of healthcare, insurance etc.. Was WAY cheaper before the government got involved in charity in the first place.

Whenever Medicare was initiated, Doctors figured out that if they just raised their prices to the max price that Medicare would pay, they'd get more from the system, since those that couldn't afford the prices could just sign up to Medicare/Medicaid if they couldn't swing it... So no need for personal responsibility in keeping the prices low so EVERYONE can afford it.

Medicare/medicaid costs just kept rising, so the cost of the program and taxes had to rise with it, so we're ALL bearing the burden of healthcare inflation initially caused by gov.

It just compounded upon itself, and the prices rose in RECORD time.

Pretty soon, people figured out that they could file medical malpractice and they ESPECIALLY felt vindicated in doing so if they had to pay ridiculous costs for either their insurance premiums, or for their healthcare out of profit.

Due to the rising medical costs, and the ability to sue for emotional distress, the settlements were rising higher and higher... Deeming it necessary for doctors to pay for malpractice insurance thus even FURTHER raising their rates and Medicare caps and everyone else's insurance premiums.

IMO, getting the government OUT of the market all-together and letting the free market regulate it is the best solution.

Hopefully we've all learned by now that a government solution to a government created problem never works.

Either way... The only solution is for government to shrink itself, and ALSO according to history, that has never happened.

The only logical outcome is for our government to grow so large and create so many problems that it implodes in upon itself.

I hope that we've evolved as a human race to the point where the USA will be the exception to history and learn to outgrow the need for the nanny state.

I am a social Liberal, Fiscal conservative... A little "L" Harry Brown, Ron Paul libertarian :-)

First off, you can't get them to understand that it's not forced healthcare for everyone, the only people required to have insurance are children. God forbid a parent must meet that obligation and be responsible for their child's healthcare. If you can't afford that for your child, you can't afford a child, so don't have one. Just like other programs, as long as any part of it is run by a publically owned interest, it will not work when the governement steps in. Why, because it drives profits down, so private companies drive up the costs for others to compensate. I say, stop mandating that we MUST pay for anything for illegals and that'll save a ton of money right there.

I'm not going to address your very long list of questions as I would spend all evening typing.

I do agree that we have some serious health care issues, but I do not agree with the solutions that are being proposed by the Obama administration. I do not call it a crisis, but an ongoing problem that needs new laws, actions, regulations and solutions.

The current proposal is, to coin a phrase, putting lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig.

I think that we need to ensure that Americans who are not provided insurance through an employer or some other means have access to affordable health care, but I do not think that it ought to be handled in such a careless fashion.

It is liable to be the most expensive thing our taxes will be paying for and we need to proceed with caution during difficult economic times. Look at the mess Social Security is in. Do we need to do that to the health care systems as well?

I also have not seen an increase in the cost of my family health insurance (BC/BS) in the last two years, in fact our premiums went down. So the people screaming about increasing insurance costs are wrong.

I do not feel that we should act in such a rush. I feel strongly that a committee of democrats, republicans and independents should be working on this with complete bipartisan support instead of it being a winner take all mess. It's a mess and I hate that approximately 50% of our people's wishes are being completely ignored. In order for it to be accepted and supported, it needs bi-partisan creativity. It reeks of socialism and it just plain stinks.

I am a registered Independent and very proud of it.

You, my friend, are obviously a liberal.

I think we need to try and lower costs by going after the insurance companies -

keep the government out of it -

I was a centrist and Obama has shoved me right - further right than I would have ever imagined.

I have a question for you? Should illegal immigrants be granted this national healthcare?

and another....

my friend, who has chosen NOT to get health care has his iPOD and buys new clothes all the time - should I WANT to help pay for his health care?

they are simple answers - no, no.

Costs are out of control. I pay about $14,000 per year for a HEALTHY family. The system is rife with waste and abuse.

The system needs to be changed (reformed), but I am not in favor of giving free health care to adults who do not work. We already give them free housing, food, phone service, utilities, and more.

we do need reform but obama care is not it . a trillion dollar bill they won't even read, is not the answer; I am 50 and do not have healthcare; I need a hip replacement and have other medical needs .if it;s such a good plan why won't elected officals be on it but you and i will be, we don't need to spend over a trillion dallors we don't have; ther are manny ways to fix our system.but this just is'nt it

Could it use a tweak or two? Sure. Do we want to throw out the baby with the bathwater? No.

Let them fix Medicaid and Medicare, then we'll talk. They cant even run those programs very well.

How do you think such an inefficient machine would fare on a national level?

Not well.

--Conservative

reform yes

but to force national health care on everyone no

Yes,quite a few,but universal healthcare during a time of recession is not the answer.