I find this attitude of well "because they have we should have it" as somwhat troublesome. If it has not escaped notice of all those proponents of healthcare insurance for all in this nation that like to use statistics so much , what nation has one of the highest murder rates in the world, accident rates in the world, and when you factor those in yes we don't score too well. However, I don't see a rush to cure those problems that when taken out of the scroring we rank at or near the top in about every catagory. One oher factor you don't hear much discussed among those that would like to say that well we are not the same as the rest of the world and that those nations that have healthcare save for Japan perhaps have long suffered chronic unemployment , and long term economic woes as a result. Further, although many of those nations may have coverage they lack in basic availabilty of healthcare. So it's a trade offf, it's one thing to say you have coverage it's another to actually have a place to use it. What you will end up getting from all this is a a healthcare system for the masses that is bloated suffers from poor quality for those that cannot afford decent coverage, and another one for those that can afford to pay for it. So if this is the system you all envisioned then you are going to get just that.
Navy, you are speaking of many nations that have a higher standard of living than we here in the US enjoy. And little Costa Rica can provide universal health care for it's citizens with a per capita income of only a tenth that of the US.
As far as you other objections go, have you actually looked at the various Health Care Systems in other nations? They are quite differant from each other in many ways. It is not a one fits all proposition. And all of them have longer average life spans, healthier old ages, and much lower infant mortality than we do here in the States.
Do you know Rocks, I have been to a whole lot of places in the world and to be very honest with you, there is no place on the earth and that includes All of Europe, Asia, and pretty much most of the nations you can name, there is no place I would rather have my healthcare than the United States. One of the things that people never seem to graps when they cite these statistics is our nation also has many factors that add to those statistics such has a very high accident rate, a high murder rate, a high incidence of people over weight because of fast food, etc.. All of these things factor into your overall statistics of lifespan, etc. that the WHO used to measure this nation against others. So I for one am able to seperate that and then recognize that out nations health care quailty is second to none. Many cannot take that out of the mix , which is fine , but, to not address the factors that actually cause healthcare costs to rise and to simply in a ham handed manner mandate it across the board will not effect costs. You really want to know that this is going to accomplish Rocks I wil tell you. While it may lead to more people covered after a very long period of adjustment, what it will lead to is this, people who can afford quailty healthcare will be able to buy it and those with the govt. healthcare will be stuck with low quailty care. You will have the "HAVE's" and the HAVE NOTS" of healthcare when it comes to quailty and if this is the goal that you support then by all means be my guest. If you think this is not true take a look at Canada for example, even though they are illegal these private for profit clinics are popping up all over the place because, Govt. healthcare simply cannot provide the type of quailty helathcare people expect. I've said it many times and will continue to say it, in order to fix healthcare costs you need to address ALL the issues that effect costs and not just point a finger at one group of companies and cross your fingers and hope thats it. The other factor that seems to escape people that support this legislation is that A. it's not supported anywhere in the constitution and will likely meet a court challenge in many states B. this nation has a massive deficit and will likely lead this nation into bankruptcy C. It does not address any of the factors that actually cause healthcare costs to rise D. will add to an already large unemployment number..
So if healthcare is worth all that to you, then you Rocks and others what I might suggest as I always have is go to your state legislature and demand it be put on your next elections ballot by getting enough signatures. That way the residents of your state have spoken and you will get no complaints from me because your state will be paying for it's own citizens demands and not making others pay it for them.