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jackt, I think you missed the point, but yeah, at least we treat our women with a bit more respect, along with muslims. It's not the religion that's the problem, it's the people that terrorise in its name. Perhaps you should talk to a few of them, or listen to them, I believe you're current president is one is he not?

Pharma's tried to get your govt to make a terrible trade deal that we said get stuffed over. It would have prevented sensible medicine prices to everyone. They even convinced along with the biotech companies, your govt to allow them to patent human genes until they finally realised how ridiculous, dangerous and harmful it was.

The US industries via lobbyists have so much sway they even convince the FDA to list a big mac meal as meeting healthy food standards for school kids! There's a often used saying around the world - only in America!

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Hey HK, the hockeyroos are pretty good at version that doesn't involve ice cos its too hot here! Apart from the beer!

Difficulty score 17. No green.

Phil: if our government followed its own constitution there wouldn't be an FDA and it would be up to parents to decide whether or not their children could safely consume a big mac.

Digonnda: people do come to the US for medical care. About 40,000 Canadians a year as of 2010. For instance Newfoundland premier Danny Williams came to the US in February of 2010 for heart valve surgery.

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Diane: we don't need to look to other countries to learn about government run health care, we have the VA right here in the US. Maybe we should learn from that.

drwho: please don't bury your head in the sand. A very tiny number of Canadians go to the US for any medical care. You're forgetting how many Canadians visit the US annually (especialy snowbirds) and as a result require medical care here. Read the stats, don't just cite an out-lier. As I'm sure you know, it's a logical fallacy to extrapolate from the singular to the universal.

drwho: The VA is nothing like the Canadian system with which I lived (and enjoyed) for 16 years. Open your eyes, please.

kaosangel: Not the first time I've been called insane! :) But I'm unclear as to why I'm insane this time. I do have some experience with the Canadian system, and was so pleased with it. Outstanding, up-to-date care, with procedures they don't even do in the US.

Wondering why health care is so expensive here?

truecostofhealthcare.net

A Canadian family of 4 pays about $11,000 per year on health care. Not free.

ng,ng

Universal health care is nothing more than health insurance on steroids. Nobody likes the health insurance companies for good reason. See: truecostofhealthcare.net

The solution I favor is going back to the free market system. Insurance should only cover financially catastrophic events, not every doctor's appointment and not drugs. Car insurance doesn't cover the cost of gasoline.

The rationale for covering doctor's appointments is that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Drug coverage is optional, but for many people, medications are the most expensive part of their health care (thanks to big pharma!).

A proposed model for single-payer health coverage in the US is Medicare-For-All. Medicare now covers folks who are 65 or older or disabled. Most recipients are very happy with the program. It isn't free. Workers pay into the system through payroll taxes, and recipients pay premiums, deductions, and co-pays. Those who didn't pay sufficient payroll taxes can still buy in later, and there is help available for lower-income people. You are free to choose your service providers. If you want enhanced coverage, you are free to buy supplemental coverage from a private insurer. The point is, basic coverage is available at reasonable rates to all in the given demographic.

I would be interested in knowing about the heart valve surgery had by Danny Williams. My mom had valve replacement done in Phila last year. The reason she went there is they just started doing a new procedure TAVR where they didn't have to crack the chest. Went between the ribs. People who come to the U.S. for health care are those who can afford it. National Health is for everyone else. The wealthy can go to where ever the best doctors and hospitals are. They are not always in the U.S. It is the rest of us who have to go where our insurance carriers tell us to go or go without. I know. I fell 5 stories and shattered all my lumbar vertebrae in 1980. I had been at my job for only 3 months and was not covered under their health plan for another 2 weeks. Medicaid paid for everything. I won a settlement for my accident and had to reimburse Medicaid 100%. Since then whenever I need surgery I travel 3 hours or more to the best doctors I can find. The free market exists now and National Health would not change that. What would change if we nationalized our health care systems is you would remove a whole level of parasites getting obscenely rich off our misfortune.

If Medicare were made available to everyone from birth onward, we would of course have to change the tax structure. I've mentioned before how unreasonable it is to tie health coverage to employment. But if we shifted the money now spent by employers, employees, and others on private insurance into the income tax system, the total expense should actually decrease. The latest figures I saw were $400 billion saved per year and 45,000 lives saved per year. As a start, though, we could simply have Medicare be an insurance option you could choose rather than a private plan, leaving all the current tax structure in place. It would help if Medicare were allowed to negotiate lower drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies, as the Veterans Administration does.

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In Germany they have all private insurance carriers but they are highly regulated. They must provide for the highlest possible level of care for the lowest possible price. They make this possible by not paying their CEO exhorbitant salaries and being as efficient as possible.

We could easily do that here but the Free Marketeers cry "Too much regulation!!" As the old saying goes. Unregulated capitalism is a license to steal.

My brother works for Big Pharma. This is why he can afford to buy a 2nd home in an exclusive gated community in a south eastern Red State http://usuncut.com/news/us-drug-prices-in-the\n-us-are-literally-insane-when-compared-to-oth\ner-nations/

once again remove the \n in the link.

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Not sure why some object to regulations. I agree with tuco about uunregulated capitalism. Yet another Canadian example: it didn't have the great recession brought on by poor practices in the US banking system. Reason? Canadian banks are carefully regulated.

Tuco is also right on drug prices. Canada negotiates drug prices with pharma, so prices are far, far more reasonable than in the US.

A word on Muslims: Judge not. Certainly, some Muslims do not accept equality of women. I know far too many Christians who reject equality, as well (anyone ever seen 19 & Counting?). I am fortunate to be friends with Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Sikhs, and even atheists. The vast majority are governed by a strong, centered set of ethics and values.

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Diane, I bet you don't "know far to many Christians who reject equality." I'll bet you don't know ANY. Tell us the names of Christians you actually know -- not just stereotype -- who fit your bias.

Diane: What do you mean, "even" atheists? Do you even know the meaning of your own words "Judge not"?

EZPZ, except my internet was going really slowly. 12.

Janetb and others who don't know why covering doctor's appointments is a bad idea. Insurance coverage for all medical expenses means no one knows the cost of medical care. And no one cares! There is no competition, no incentive for doctors and hospitals to keep their prices down.

Tuco: unregulated capitalism is a myth. There have always been laws against stealing. That is regulation.

What other regulations did you have in mind?