If you'd like to hear from a Canadian about their experience with Canadian Health Care, watch Congressman Brian Baird's very civil Town Hall Meeting on Health Care here:

http://www.tvw.org/media/mediaplayer.cfm?evid=2...

Yes. Almost all of them. It's really shocking to come back to the US after seeing what the rest of the civilized world has.

It's not like Canada, and the UK (et al) have magical money — rules of economics that don't apply here. In fact, those other fabulous countries DON'T have universal, government supplied healthcare. (Sorry to burst your idealistic bubbles).

Canadian healthcare is funded substantially (30%) by private party insurance generated by people who are scared to death to be stuck with gov't insurance. Oh those enlightened Canadians, whose courts recently stopped a privately-owned medical clinic for charging patients who wanted to receive private care. (Do you really want a system that doesn't respect the right for people to exchange legal services?)

And the wonderful NHS in the UK. Healthcare isn't a “right” there either. Healthcare is simply the universal rationing of services, often with terrible consequences. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/249938.stm

Just because someone opposes this government heist attempt, doesn't mean they are “anti-reform.”

We just don't like being robbed.

You're an idiot. Not only do YOU pay for YOUR gun but so do I and every single other taxpayer, you moron! Where do you think the money comes from to pay for all the cops you have to deal with gun violence? Where do you think the money comes from to pay for the ATF? Seriously, you don't know what you're talking about. All taxpayers pay a price for our right to own firearms. If you don't believe that you're an idiot.

PS – I saw that as a gun owner and someone opposed to gun bans.

If we are not a smart enough country to take what other countrys have done and learn from their mistakes and make ours better, then we are in a sad state of affairs.

The only good that would come out of not getting this done would be that in the next few years those opposed will not be able to afford the insurance they have now. That is if they live long enough.

nwcitizen, I was really sad about the woman there who pays over $2k a month for health insurance and needs a new heart but her insurance won't let her on the transplant list because she can't afford her portion. For the rest of you that didn't hear her story, she had one insurance that would not pay. They told her she had to get a second insurance to deny her so the gov't would pay. She is now paying for the second insurance too and now has to wait 2 more years until she is old enough for Medicare to pay for it, if she lives that long. This is a Ballard resident that attended, not a friend of a friend but one of our own.

A fellow from the UK happened to be at the park with his dog and volunteered to answer questions. He did so with great good humor. A couple Q&As I remember were:
Q – Does anyone go bankrupt in the UK due to healthcare costs?
A – No
Q – What about “preexisting conditions?
A – He hadn't even heard the term before he came to the US. Everyone has healthcare in the UK.

He remarked that their system is not perfect but then no system is. After 50-60 years it could use a tuneup but by and large it works quite well and most people are satisfied with it. Private insurance is still available for those who can afford to pay more.

He also mentioned that it was the US which enabled the British to establish the NHS by loaning them the money. In 1946 when the NHS was established England had been devastated by the war. That loan was finally paid off in 2006.

It's interesting to me that the US could help a war torn country rebuild but we've not been able to help ourselves to establish a decent healthcare system for everyone here.

You keep pissing and moaning but I've yet to hear you offer a solution. Of course I've also yet to hear you offer an original thought beyond the usual right wing paranoia and babble.

The US should be embarrassed by our healthcare system. Both Cuba and El Salvador have lower infant mortality rates. Really we have a lot to be embarrassed about. American Exceoptionalism is a myth.

It's no secret we (USA) spend a shitload on defense that is entirely unnecessary. Education is necessary… buy hey, an educated populace might actually read the Constitution and Bill of Rights and find they are being snookered.

Bet the looney left is pissssssed at him for being a centrist. How does it feel, do you all feel dirty and used?

Speaking of which the VA is publicly funded.

So are Fire Departments.

That said, the notion that the fat and lazy cost more is questionable at best. While people who have heart attacks and diabetes due to their lack of personal control cost more in the short term they also die at a younger age which means they cost less over their lifetime than the more physically fit.

Here's a link to a peer reviewed study: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10...
Excerpt:
“Until age 56 y, annual health expenditure was highest for obese people. At older ages, smokers incurred higher costs. Because of differences in life expectancy, however, lifetime health expenditure was highest among healthy-living people and lowest for smokers. Obese individuals held an intermediate position. “

and

“Obesity prevention may be an important and cost-effective way of improving public health, but it is not a cure for increasing health expenditures.”

Buy hey, I'm sure you know more than a bunch of epidemiologists, right?

FYI I guess you didn't hear that Obama was talking about this article he was so impressed….?

2) People say they're against government healthcare but don't demand smaller fire department budgets. In most cities 75% or more of the 911 calls are medical related. Paramedics are pretty much government paid healthcare by definition. Why don't people whine about that?

3) People are for private health insurance but have no issue with paying the government to run fire departments. If the idea of a private fire department sounds crazy to you I suggest you pick up a history book. Up until the 1860s private fire insurance and private fire brigades were the norm in many cities. If your house caught on fire and you didn't have an insurance plaque on your door then the private fire brigades let your house burn. Sort of like our healthcare system: get sick but don't have insurance? Tough luck.

While we're at it, let's do away with other government services such as schools, libraries, and the mail. Why not allow the glorious free market to come up with cheaper and more efficient options to these bloated government entities? After all, our wonderful free market system has given us a healthcare system that is higher quality and lower cost than any other nation on Earth, right?

BTW, infant mortality in Cuba is better than that in the USA. That's not a number made up by some lefty loon like Michael Moron or Sean Penn. That comes from our very own CIA. Personally, I think it's pretty sad when Cuba can do anything better than the USA.

The Constitution isn't written in stone. Pick up a history book sometime and you'll see it's been amended numerous times.