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1. is it right to demand that another person pay for your medical expenses? if so, how is this justified?
It's not a demand if we collectively decide to offer to do so. I for one, would be willing to pay to support a universal health care system.
2. on what grounds do we "deserve" medical care? if we deserve medical care, what else are we entitled to? if nothing else, why not?
my answer is the 25th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. I won't quote it here, but i'm part of the humanist tradition of the Christian faith. Humankind is something worth caring about. We, as a people, are worth caring about. If we're not worth caring about, and if we don't back that conviction with action, our lives will be nasty, brutish and short. Care of the other is the mark of civilization, and for me, revelation.
3. does your experience in dealing with government offices and your knowledge of how the government manages your tax dollars give you confidence in placing your healthcare in the same hands?
To be honest, it does. I worked for US Senator Paul Wellstone for several years, and i dealt with every branch of government there was. And despite some real hassles and twits, those people were doing their best to do their jobs. With oversight, i'm willing to trust the corporate "us" of government.
4. do you think fraud and corruption are better avoided in a universal government program or in the competitive market?
trick question. is the current health care market competitive? in the small town where my grandfather used to be the doctor and surgeon, there are two major hospitals, each HMO trying to push the other out. That community is vastly over served, a piece of turf in a giant war. other communities go completely unserved. governments can be wasteful too. It's a trick question. The system, any system, is as good as we demand it to be.
5. what will be the long-term impact of placing so many dollars that once flowed through the economy in the tax coffer?
i don't know. but i think it's worth the risk. think of the small businesses and entreprenours who can compete and open when they don't have to offer health care. think of the young people willing to take a risk on a career or job becuase they know that they don't have to accept the first thing that offers benifits. health care is a restraint on labor. and that costs. i think it's time we did something to change that.
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For God so loved creation, that God sent God's only Son that whosoever believed should not perish, but have everlasting life.
-John 3:16
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