I'm with you, asunshine! I would like to see people getting healthier, too.

Well then, we need to find out what makes the one where i live work so well (I was actually a patient there during my first pregnancy and had a great experience with a really good FP as my doc) and invest some money in making them all work as well. Ours apparently has the lowest incidence of low birth weight babies of all federally funded clinics in the country. I'm guessing we could do that for lots less than a trillion dollars. It is estimated that there are really are only 12 million uninsured Americans in this country, and many of those are only temporarily uninsured. The rest are already eligible for medicaid or SCHIP but haven't signed up, make enough money to buy their own insurance but haven't done so, or are not Americans (whether here legally or illegally). My son is currently only marginally employed, having lost one of his part-time jobs, but he continues to pay for his individual health insurance policy out of pocket.

Yeah, it sounds great "let's make people healthier" but those PEOPLE do not WANT to be healthier for the most part. Most of my morbidly obese, chain smoking, pill poping, ETOH guzzling folks do not give a **** about prevention! Until you are in the trenches AKA internship/residency/practicing you have NO idea of what I am talking about. Countless are the times were the man/woman living in Marlboro Country come if for their FIFTH or more cardiac intervention because a) they do not want to pay for Plavix b) continue to live a life of debauchery c) it's free and who cares. This is many of the patients (frequent flyers) to the hospital and YES they have been offered primary care, preventive services, smoking cessation, counseling for ETOH/drugs, FREE clinics, etc. I am all for having care for those that CANNOT children, pregnant women, mentally disable, physically disables but I refuse to provide my hard earned money to those that CAN but prefer to NOT earn/pay into insurance. Why should I pay for those that are blatantly going against all physician reccommendations? and why should I pay for a 95-100 yo to get HD? NO, enough is enough. End of life care is also the HUGEST $$$$ sucker of all time to the medicare bankrupt establishment. Expecations are INSANE folks, and yes, most physicians DO explain to patients DNR/DNI, futility and many STILL want ALL. Many folks think that they "should" live forever at the same level as when they were 60/70 it is truly insane.

We "gladly" pay almost 1K/month in car payments/car insurance. And we GLADLY pay ~ $500.00/month in health insurance.

Unfortunately, I "hear" too often that people want to live a "bling bling" lifestyle but are "cheap" when it comes to paying for their health insurance and this I have a HUGE problem with!!!!

IMHO, free health care should ONLY be available FIRST to those people who are living a healthy lifestyle, diet/exercise, no smoking/heavy drinking, not obese. Everyone else should pay for services based in how healthy they are as it relates to those reasonably controllable factors like weight, comsumption of alcohol, ect.

I also think paying a junk food tax which I heard proposed to pay for free health care, punishes those who eat junk food sensibly and in moderation.

Perhaps there really is a lack of health information among the general populace, leading to a lack of healthy choices and people who often don't seek care when they need it. Maybe if they have never seen a doctor regularly they don't understand the importance of preventative care. Completing this vicious cycle is the fact that people who do not see the value of health care or visiting a doctor will not pay for it.

I come from a family that is distrustful of medical practitioners, so will never pay for insurance. Fortunately, they also tend to live very healthy lifestyles. On the other hand, they'll likely never get cancer screening or other preventative care, because they'll never pay that much for a service they don't think they need and don't entirely trust. If it were free, they may consider that even if it's not beneficial, it won't hurt.

I'm still torn on this issue, but I think it's worthwhile to consider that some people who are uninsured do not smoke, drink, or overeat. They just come from generations of people who have always been uninsured and see no reason to depart from the trend. In addition, it would be a serious hardship for some to pay for it, and many living situations (such as rural areas with little bus service) make an automobile and auto insurance a necessity, and health insurance appear to be a luxury.

I agree with you efex, but that is exactly what makes the current system absurd in my mind. People, we ARE already paying for universal healthcare for subsets of the population. And which subsets? The most expensive ones.
- the elderly (Medicare)
- the poor and disabled (Medicaid)
- veterans (no offense, but less likely to be healthy than the general population).
We are funding, with our tax dollars, the segments of the population that require the most $$$ for healthcare.

Meanwhile, private insurance companies are making a killing on insuring young, relatively healthy people (under 65, working = much more likely to be healthy). Sure, some people are sick in those categories too, but as a whole, is it any wonder insurance companies make a huge profit? I pay $1,500 a month to insure my family of 4, and none of us have chronic issues. I keep it to cover for catastrophic events, but in the meantime, Aetna is making at least $1400 a month on my family. I would much rather pay my $1,500 (in taxes or whatever) and have that pay not only for my care, but for that of others. Not for the salary of Aetna's CEO.

I don't know what the solution is, but having tax dollars cover the care of the most unhealthy people, while insurance gets rich on the healthy ones, makes no sense at all.

One thing that I think that President Obama is glossing over in this healthcare debate is that the healthcare issue is only a small part of an underlying, major problem in this country. That problem is just, plain, laziness.

As I mentioned above, there is a huge segment of our population which has lost the concept of valuing hard work and its rewards. They have grown up with low cost housing, free healthcare, food stamps, WIC, etc. For children who have grown up that way, they don't know any different and to them the "dump" they live in is simply "home".

There are some who manage to see past this life, but the majority have no interest in looking further. Children's goals in life tend to mimick their parents. If their parents lives consist of sitting around all day doing nothing and living on government handouts, their children's goals will be the same.

As the child of hardworking parents who lived among these groups of people, I have seen first hand the damage that "public handouts" has done. While initially it was meant as a safety net for those temporarily unemployed, it has evolved into a subculture. I clearly remember my father asking one of my neighbors, a 15 year old girl, what job she would like to have when she grows up. Her response was "why would I get a job? I'll have a few kids and live off the checks like my mom does"

Now that I have chosen to work with people who live in this subculture, I see even more how damaging it is. When it comes to health, most of them take the same lackadasical attitude toward it. As much as I educate and encourage, when a person has no goal in life, there is no incentive to improve themselves or care for themselves.

They don't care if their kid is overweight or has high blood pressure, they just want a pill for it. When I refuse to prescribe a prescription cream because it costs 10 times as much as the over the counter version (which is equally affective), the response is "but medicaid pays for it, not me, so what's the difference?" I find a total lack of understanding that things cost money--and that if it doesn't come out of their pocket, it is still coming from someone's pocket.

As I mentioned above, I do believe in a system where basic preventative care is provided by all. However, I think that until the overall issue of laziness and dependence in this country is addressed, any program will fail and will just end up costing more and more money as that disconnect and disvaluing of medical care increases and the public demand for everything, now, and for free increases.

I live in one of the wealthiest suburbs in metro DC and I can assure you that this lazy attitude toward overall health and fitness is NOT limited to the 'hood.

Due to my work with the Komen foundation, I go back and forth between many "worlds" on a regular basis and I've observed that being an overweight, lazy a$$ isn't limited to Shenene' and her crew. For example, I'd say that most of the kids at my daughters middle school are overwieght!

As for the elderly being a drain on the system, poor minorites are far LESS likly in ANY age group to get adequate medical care, so exactly who are the folks draining the system? It's the folks that live in one of two assisted facilities in the wealthy neighborhood I live in, people with means who could probably afford to pay for their health insurance but choose to go on medicare because it's free!!!

As for veterans, I believe we SHOULD pay for their medical care without question!! Unless of course, we're willing to strap on an AK 47 and get on the front lines in Iraq or Afganistan.

Well, with moronobama now in the house the let the government pay for all mentality is here to stay...socialism to the hilt. If I wanted to live in a socialist country I would live in France. I busted my arse to get where I am and I will be dammed if this fool takes most of my hard earned money...I will quit medicine or move to Spain where nationalited HC is de facto but the physicians do not work hardly at all.