Healthcare In The USA

Well, I guess I'll take this opportunity to submit my first post here. Hello all!As an American I've dealt with our health care system for alomst 50 years. When I was young, I never had a bad experience with our health care system, but things changed as I got older, moved out on my own, and had some not so wonderful dealings with health insurance companies.First, here's a link to a site that covers a lot of the myths/facts surrounding our current debate:http://ourfuture.org/healthcare/healthreformfactcheckPersonally, I've had routine doctor's visits billed to my insurance company denied for various reasons, resulting in me having to pay out of pocket for hundreds of dollars of tests ordered by my physician. I watched my brother have to divorce his wife & give her all of his personal assets in order to qualify for Medi-Cal once his MS got so bad he had to enter a nursing home - they couldn't afford for him to be cared for, otherwise.I also assisted my mother once she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She was old enough to qualify for Medicare, so all of her treatments, medicine, hospital stays & hospice care were covered. She had very little out of pocket expense related to her disease. We were able to keep her home & comfortable until she died, and we had no worries about finances to stress us during an already taxing time in our lives.So, in my opinion we need an option like Medicare in this country for everyone - not just once we turn 65.The other big problem is health insurance portability. I've changed jobs a lot over the years - some employers offered insurance, some didn't. When I was younger, I just went without coverage. As I got older, I knew I needed a least some coverage - just in case something bad happened. At least I was usually able to get covered under my husband's policy - many people here don't have that luxury. BTW - when I had to take a leave of absence from my work in order to take care of my mom when she was sick, my employer took away my health benefits. I had to pay for my own coverage during those 6 months - at 103% of what my employer was paying. It's called COBRA - and many people who lose their jobs just can't afford that.So, that's my personal story regarding health care. There's thousands of stories much worse than mine. So many folks here don't even understand the debate - we have retired folks complaining they don't want our government meddling in their Medicare. Medicare is run by the government! Argh!Let me know if I can offer any other insight for you, Straggler.Edited by ooh-child, : No reason given.

Thanks for the welcome, Straggler. I've been reading this site for several years now and learned a lot from everyone here - I'm glad I finally have an opportunity to jump in the water!I guess what upsets me most about this debate is how conservatives have turned it into a 'left/right' issue. Partisan politics shouldn't be involved in health care in this country, but that's what it's devolved into.For instance, politicians like Palin & Gingrich were all for end-of-life counseling just a few months ago. They are both on record as supporting this as a cost saving measure. But once they saw the opportunity to twist it into a wedge issue, they jumped on it like a duck on a junebug. All because the Democrats support it now, and they'll do anything to get back in power.Obama needs to give up on the idea of bipartisan compromise - Republicans will only use it against him.