Healthcare In The USA

Hi Straggler,I don't know how much I can help with the facts of the situation, but I can offer my experiences and opinions. No What a great show! and dude! I've seen a lot of this crap on the news. A lot of people, and myself, just don't know what the new plan has to offer. And other people aren't afraid to speculate and bitch about it. Here's where I thought I could add some personal testimony that I thought you might want to read (feel free to tell me you don't care)I grew up in an upper middle class family and had health insurance. Whenever I broke bones or got sick, adequate health care was available and affordable (ie. the premiums). My parent got pissed when i was reckless (which was a lot), but it was never a "problem" for them to afford.Now, I have a great job and have my own health insurance and the premiums are affordable should I get hurt or sick (with exceptions). If I need to go to my doctor, which I reserve for the "last resort" as I'm smart enough to figure out on my own if I *really* need to go or not, then it only cost me twenty bucks (and honestly, the doctor hasn't really helped much as they thought my finger nail infection was simply in-grown when I told them explicitly that I could feel that it was more than that and that I wouldn't be there if it was just that) and I usually just see the nurse practitioner instead of the doctor himself (supposedly unless it’s really serious business which I haven't had to test yet).However, I cut the shit out of my thumb one night... like, half off and dangling. I went specifically to the hospital that I was covered under, knowing that this was "serious business" (unlike the stomach or headaches that people seem to bog down the system with). So, when I get the bill, it is from a 3rd party company out of Texas that is *NOT* covered under my insurance. They ran the Emergency Services, instead of the covered hospital themselves, and the insurance only covered 20% of the bill instead of the expected 80% (the difference between covered and not covered depends on the facility you go to). This was a problem for me as it ended up being about $350 that I didn’t think I would have to be paying that month (which I didn’t end up paying until months later so it really wasn’t that much of a problem after all, just unexpected).
Well dang I just spent 43 min. on the phone my boss (I’m actually in an airport waiting for a flight) so I’ve lost my train of thought. I’m just going to submit this now instead of trying to figure out where I was. I hope this at least partially answers some aspects of your questions.All in all though, being uneducated on the situation, I still don’t believe that the government can do a better job with the healthcare than private organizations (look how bad they’ve screwed up other stuff). And, making this quick as I’m short on time now, I don’t really want to pay for other people’s healthcare through taxes as I feel that they don’t do everything they can to better themselves, and I feel that a lot of them bog down the system by going to the emergency room for a belly aches n’stuff that I wouldn’t personally go for, and I want to be able to choose my own doctor and services, etc. I’m not currently in support of Obama’s new healthcare plan.Honestly though, I admit I don't know much about the specifics or how they'd affect me. I just generally opposed to the idea.