No one is uninsured. From the poorest to the richest, we all get cutting edge, top notch care. Just recently the Canadian system, via the Montreal Jewish General Hospital, saved my life. I was an inpatient for 8 days. My care and treatment was second to none. When I left the hospital I received a bill for $12.00, the cost of having a private telephone in my room. That is all. I did not have to wait for my care. When I presented myself at hospital with a high fever, I was ushered into the ER and treated immediately.

I do not demonize the doctors in the U.S. I think most of them are heroes. But I think many of them are shying away from a system they do not fully comprehend. Before single payer care became the law in Canada the doctors actually threatened to strike, and if my history serves my properly, I believe they did strike for a brief time. However, it is very rare to find a doctor in Canada who does not favour the current system. Their office expenses are down considerably. They have no insurance forms to fill out, and constant billing to deal with. They do not have to convince insurance companies of HMOs to approve any treatments they prescribe. The only thing the government does is pay the bills. The government does not enter the decision making process. Patients are not required to see any particular physicians. Patients have free choice at all times.

Is this a panacea? Of course not. But compared to the expensive mess in the U.S. it is pretty damn close.

So let’s just get “things straight”.

I wish I had parents like you. Nobody put me through school but me, myself, and I. Unfortunately, for most of us our “first mortgage” is six figure educational debt to be paid with dollars taxed at 50% effective rates. And Uncle Sam is not handing out even cost-of-living bonuses to physicians. The matters discussed in this blog are largely beyond the scope of non-practitioner comprehension.

It is reprehensible and insulting to make the comment “you care nothing for human life”. And don’t please don’t play the Vietnam Vet card. I get my fill of that at the local stop light and at least a few docs I know were in Vietnam or in the Iraq revolving door of service while their practices languish.

The last time I looked, this was how the U.S. tax system was designed. If you earn more, you pay more in taxes. Private health insurance is like a country club; only those who can afford can join. What Dr. Rangel wants is to keep the country club, it’s only for those who pay and save. If you can’t afford it and can’t save for this country club, keep out. And the country club will guarantee that he remains in the top income bracket.

Everyone go back and actually read my post very carefully again. It’s not about Vietnam vets who have played by the rules, paid their taxes, and stayed out of debt. It’s about a nation where the average credit card debt is $9,000, NO ONE saves for future medical expenses, and where many are expecting the taxpayers to pick up the tab on their future medical expenses.

there was a time, early on, when we paid every doc bill in full at the time of a visit. Then things changed, which had NOTHING whatsoever to do with us personally. ins companies got involved in healthcare. Physician prices, medications, everything went through the ceiling. Our employers then offered benefits. We would have been damn dumb fools to not take them.

We paid into SS and medicare all of our work lives, Hell we even paid all those other taxes that you belive you are the only ones paying. Do you really want to distance yourself from all of society except other physicians? Is that now your attitude? Is money REALLY the only thing that matters? My husband fought in a Vietnam war for this country and came home and spent the rest of his life being in law enforcement. Do you honestly believe we have lead a losers lifestyle?

You are turning society against you with your demands and your belief that you (and money)are all that matter in this world. Some of you are nothing but a bunch of spoiled brats who want to get rich and who think you have chosen the right career to make that happen. You care nothing for human life.

Get the picture?