Fundamentally I'm for some sort of BASIC, preventive heathcare for all. Regular Dr. visits, check ups and testing can nip potentially costly and deadly issues in the butt before drastic measures need to be enacted. A cut on the finger should be looked at, clean and stitches put in before it gets infected, has to be cut off and a prosthetic installed.
However I also defiantly agree that in its current state, the gov, be it Fed or State, wouldn't be able to run it worth ****. Too many hands in the pickle jar, too many special interests, too much pork. And (as sad as it is) I don't see any way to make that go away. Its human nature to look out for yourself, and your friends and family. We all do it and justify it, but when people of power do it, they are evil. Sure you could fire everybody and being in a whole new batch.... but it would only be a (short) matter of time before its right back were it was. Corruption is almost natural. And form different point of views, you can find corruption EVERYWHERE (sorry, side track).
The nature of health care itself is too bloated and mired down in ridiculous costs, greed, special interest, litigation and suet's. In order for ANY sort of affordable health care to exist, the COST of heath care needs to go down. I don't mind doctors making a good salary, they sacrifice a big chunk of their early life and have to deal with some nasty ****. But when they have to charge 300-400% MORE (made up numbers, but you get the point) to cover their ass cause someone *might* sue because they are not miracle workers (blatant malpractice aside). There is something wrong.
*I* would like to see healthcare pulled AWAY from employment. Companies (that offer health care) pay out the ass for it... or they have to make the employee pay a burden of that (which results in *****ing). This makes the cost of everything go up. Plus if you DON'T have a job, you typically don't have it. Your EMPLOYER should not be in charge of making sure your covered, they are just the ones offering to the opportunity for them to pay you to do work for them (and yes, make them money, that it the reason they are in business). Coverage should be your own choice. But if you don't pay in some way, don't expect others to bail you out.
Healthcare should be like auto insurance. Short of the new laws (to protect others), you don't *need* coverage. But a smart person sets aside a portion of their income to cover themselves "just in case". Heathcare should be set up the same way, but affordable, strait forward and practical.
And yes, if its subsidized of gov provided it should only be available for citizens or LEAGAL, tax paying immigrants (you pay INTO the system, you can reap the benefits OUT of the system).
The current Heathcare "reform" being rammed through scares me for one reason even without researching it... they are trying to cram it in too fast. While I'm against organizations spending tons of time and cash "studding" something, I don't see anyway that a smooth running, lean, efficient system can be in place in only a few months.
