If done correctly, I believe Universal healthcare could work in the US.  There are just too many hardworking freelancers and consultants without health benefits.

There are too many children and poor people without health benefits.

I sometimes wonder if this country cares about its citizens.

Between my Canadian relatives and stateside, I gotta say, its not perfect but if there's a need, you'll get medicine and hospital care without being bankrupted. That's reassuring.

It seems like Obama has hit a brick wall with his health reform package. Every time he makes a tiny bit of progress, Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats shut him down because of cost and tax concerns. There was one slightly amusing quote among the now repetitive back-and-forth dialogue the President has had with hesitant members of Congress. In response to a congressional proposal for a soft-drink tax to help defray the plan's cost, a CNN article today quoted an opposing TV ad as saying  that "This is no time for Congress to be adding a tax to the simple pleasures we all enjoy ... like juice drinks and soda. Taxes never made anyone healthy." 

And neither does juice or soda.

In all seriousness, I can't personally determine whether the plan is too costly, but I do know that there needs to be a compromise soon. At this rate, the plan won't be resolved before Congress breaks in August.

Did anyone see this startling news break? According to PBS, a former Cigna Executive ADMITS that Moore’s ‘SICKO’ documentary was exactly right and exposes the tactics of the Health Care Industry to discredit it and single-payer health care. Yes. For once, Michael Moore was right.

We don't need government run health care. All it will do is give the government more power. I don't want them telling me that what I have chosen for health insurance isn't good enough. We need tort reform - stop the lawyers. Children can get health care in many ways, it's the parents that don't take care of them. Government can't FIX everything. Juice and soda are good. Michael Moore just wanted to get rich on hate. Guess he did that.

Has Dovehill been following the news? Universal healthcare won't wipe out a private option. The public healthcare option is for those who a) aren't offered private insurance at their current jobs b) unemployed c) aren't qualified for private insurers due to their pre-existing conditions.

Duh.  Btw, it's been proven time and time again that private healthcare insurers run for profit. That leads to problems when they take advantage of sick, insured customers and kick them out because it makes their policies "unprofitable."

---> RedLetterDuke: According to PBS, a former Cigna Executive ADMITS that Moore’s ‘SICKO’ documentary was exactly right and exposes the tactics of the Health Care Industry to discredit it and single-payer health care."

And so it begins.... the scare tactics by the corporate media and Liberterian types  to try and keep everyone impoverished, lest they become "dependent" on government services that they pay for through our high taxes.

@Dovehill : Do you think we should get rid of Medicaid and Medicare completely?

If anyone has any Big Brother concerns about "civil liberties being violated" by government health care, perhaps you should ask your grandparents and the disabled on Medicare whether or not they feel that their civil rights have been violated by having access to affordable health care...

Somehow, the idea that people should get some decent services for all the taxes they pay is bad, I guess. God forbid you ever contract a disease or disability that your health insurer knocks you out for or you can't work your job that lets you HAVE health insurance in the first place.

Since the "Free market" that right wingers love has failed to provide affordable quality care, someone has to step in and fix the problem. I'm all for the free market finding a solutoin, but they haven't for 50 years. It's time to try another way.

In regards to Dovetail and her views on how Children can get health care in many ways, it's the parents that don't take care of them." Like, where? Where can they get healthcare if their parents don't have insurance? Yes, public assistance and that's ONLY if you qualify and aren't placed on a waiting list because there are tons of Americans whose kids need health insurance because their mom/dad are either unemployed, part-time, don't qualify due to their job status, etc. I strongly disagree with the idea that charity can replace government services. To put it briefly, I see two major problems here:

1. All the empirical data I have seen suggests that it is virtually impossible for private charity to approach the levels needed to replace a welfare safety net, even with the massive tax incentives we have for charity in the US.

2. Uncoordinated private charity ventures are 100% guaranteed to have gaps and overlaps in charitable coverage. Traditionally, services for children take up the vast majority of charitable giving, and less well-known or well-advertised forms of suffering go unnoticed.

Do you really think other people will step in if their parents can't afford them healthcare? Hello, who's going to step in? Overworked teachers? Parents are going to get their kids healthcare if they can and it's available because it's not going to be the kid researching it.

If it's a question of efficiency, it seems that the private v. public welfare question should come down to empirical studies of which is actually more efficient, in which case public clearly wins; the majority of private charity money goes to the organisations, not the supposed beneficiaries, and the overhead is far higher than government welfare (which, admittedly, has quite an overhead as well). That's before we even consider my concern about gaps and overlaps - an issue that is clearly much easier to deal with when the system is centralised.