Just an interesting aside story. My Dad has hearing problems and has had surgery done on both ear drums (they remove the drum, replace the majority of the bone with a metal wire, and the bone grows back over it--a new ear drum of sorts). He goes to a specialists, Dr. Yee, in London, Ontario. Dr. Yee told him this encounter.
A woman came to him who needed ear surgery. He told her when it would be done, where, etc. She had heard about a specialist out of New York state who was quite famous for his ear surgery. She asked Dr. Yee what his opinion was. He said the service here was comparable and on par at least. She had her doubts and decided to head State side. It was gonna cost her $8000 U.S. (the Canadians will appreciate the dollar conversion
). She goes down, gets to the hospital, and waits to meet the specialist.
In walks Dr. Yee.
So not only was she paying her taxes, she payed New York State for their medical services.
Personally, I've never had a problem with our medicare. The nurses for the ederly would always drive out to my grandparents place to treat them, I've always got into the ER for any of my escapades, and surgery has always been in a decent enough time for our family.
I think there should be the possiblity of a private system to keep competition up and the public version from getting too cocky. Right now, however, I'm satisfied with our universal health care. I'd hate it to be a situation where the insurance building beside the hospital is just as big a building. When I need medical help, I don't want to have to haggle with my insurance broker about whether I deserve the treatment or not. Just stitch me up and I'll be on my way, thanks