I share your concern regarding what will happen if we don’t do something. And, yes, if we do nothing, the system we now have in place will indeed suck us dry.

If you have read my articles, you know that my suggestion is not that we do nothing. It’s that we once again make our healthcare system a market-based system, which, as of now, it is not. It is a system in which government, big insurance, and big pharma (aided by those in Congress whose influence they buy) pretty much run everything and have the health care consumer over a barrel.

A free-enterprise based system would keep the quality of healthcare very high, but would dramatically drive down prices. I explained this within the series.

Regarding what you wrote about hate and self-centeredness, I agree with the hate part. Unfortunately, because this is a very emotional issue and one in which the basic premise is not understood by many people, the hate, vitriol and accusations have really been strong. That is unfortunate. I hope you have not felt that way regarding my articles, or in the responses I have given to those who have written me; even the ones who have written in anger and misquoted me.

In terms of self-centeredness, perhaps to a point because, as human beings, we are concerned with our own welfare as well as the welfare of those we love. On the other hand, I also think that both sides care about the less fortunate. Those who want socialized healthcare are concerned that without that type of system too many people would have to go without. Those who don’t want socialized healthcare are concerned that if we were to have socialized medicine, then too many of the less fortunate (as well as pretty much the entire middle class) would be subject to long waiting lines for lifesaving care.

Thank you for your comment.

Best regards,

Bob

The system that we have in place now will suck America dri.

I haven’t seen so much hate and selfcenter people in all my life.

God help us.

Clement

Doing just a quick Google search, I found the following on the website, “Accuracy in Media.” It was written by Evan Sumortin and he quotes from Economist Dr. Thomas Sowell. http://www.aim.org/briefing/myths-about-socialized-medicine/ Nice page; it had some other excellent information as well you might like to check out. Here is what he says regarding Jean’s comment (by the way, the key conclusion will be second paragraph from the bottom, but good to read the entire answer):

Myth #4: The high mortality rates in the United States, relative to other countries with government-run medical care, suggests that the quality of medical care in the United States is not as good.

The implicit assumption that mortality statistics reflect care is inherently misleading. According to Dr. Thomas} Sowell, “Much has been made of mortality statistics which suggest that Americans’ health system is not as good as in some countries with government-run medical systems, as if medical care determines the state of people’s health.

But medical care has little effect on homicide rate, on obesity or on deaths from drug overdoses that occur before any doctor sees the patient. Yet the identification of health care, as indicated by morality rates, with medical care has become so automatic that a study which showed higher infant mortality rates among black Americans than among white Americans was instantly taken as showing less prenatal care among pregnant black women as the reason.

But American women of Filipino ancestry, Mexican ancestry, and of Central American and South American ancestries all had less prenatal care than white women-and lower infant mortality rates than white women. Indeed, Mexican Americans had less prenatal care than blacks and lower infant morality rates than either blacks or whites.”

A much more relevant comparison, argues Sowell, would be mortality rates between different countries on health problems in which medical care substantially effects. “This would still not be a perfect comparison, since even here other differences between the populations in the countries being compared are factors as well,” he asserts.

When the American College of Physicians calculated the death rate for “mortality amenable to healthcare” the United States was in the top three countries with low death rates…out of 19 countries studied.

The reality of socialized medicine is much grimmer than proponents of it would have you believe. Admittedly, our current system is far from perfect, but more government control is a step in the wrong direction.