Yes, the system is broken. In fact, the interesting thing is the existence of insurance that covers more than catastrophic problems and unintended consequences of government interference in the market both contributed greatly to the problems we have now.

Reform is needed. True, start over reform that puts the responsibility back with the consumer but also requires complete transparency of all stakeholders. Imagine if doctors, hospitals, insurers had to compete in the open with everyone knowing the true price for everything and the outcomes for a procedure that a hospital and/or the doctor achieves and the removal of the red tape and administrative overhead of today. Insurance (and this includes government run programs) and the price insulation and distortion it has caused for the consumer is a large part of the problem (and crazy high prices for some are a direct result of both private insurance and government programs).

Back in the 1930s, before significant health insurance, the average working family could pay the bill for an operation (it may have been expensive and taken them a few months to pay off an appendectomy but it was not a potential bankrupting even like is experience by those with poor or no insurance like is the case today).

Singapore has a successful system that puts the consumer in the driver’s seat and promotes real competition (thus lowering prices) while having the catastrophic coverage needed to prevent disaster and also subsidies for those truly unable to afford medical care.

I am in the final year of completing my MPH (Masters n Public Health) and what I have learned about the complexities of the system is definitely eye opening.

Finally, I think the current administration and the current plans will, contrary to some opinion, greatly exacerbate the problem over the next several years as more red tape is added, doctors find less reason to stay in practice, government requirements prove too burdensome, supply diminishes, etc.

– Bruce

I was also recently denied some of my mental medication. Dave can vouch that when I was younger I was a bit (heh, a lot) off kilter; these drugs fix that. To save $450.00 they made me completely ineffective at work for a month, and I almost lost my job. Pay for it myself? I’m already paying $680.00 a month for pharmacy copays, not to mention $8,000.00 in out of pocket costs before the insurance kicks in.

My step father is on Medicare but my Mom works at Wal-Mart and can’t afford all the deductibles on her medicines. So instead my step father goes to the hospital with high blood sugars because he can’t afford the copays on his insulin. His doctor at least sees him for free.

I have a ton of medical problems, and I know a ton of folks with medical problems. The health care reform and the fight around it have completely destroyed my faith in my family (to think for themselves and not follow their party line), my faith in my government, and my faith in myself to handle stressful issues that I feel passionately about. No one is taking a stand in our Congress and doing what’s right, and all the bickering about costs, government control, socialism, or any other topic which derails it all — all of that bickering is doing nothing to improve the American life. The war cry of socialism is thrown around as if it was a deadly disease. The root of socialism is social, as in society, or community.

I favor a single payer system because the concept of insurance simply does not work when combined with a for profit entity. (Or even a "non profit" like Blue Cross who want to pay their executives hundreds of millions of dollars.) Without that, there must be a public option with records that we can audit and see for ourselves — what exactly is making costs rise, if anything.

With that said and done… when I contemplate the state of our nation, I want to sit down and cry. The almighty dollar rules our lives, and that is the saddest thing that could happen. As a friend of mine said, "Got mine, f you" is the slogan of the United States today.

Thanks Dave, for providing an outlet for my anger and for proving that some folks do want to ignore any existing lines of control.

All I can hope for is that common sense wins and that a decent bill gets spit out of that cesspool known as Congress. Then again, there was actually opposition to the amendment keeping due process intact for defense contractors who try to restrict their employees from taking rape cases to court…