This is part of the reason why I think it's unfortunate that no clear front runner has come up yet for the Dems. Now the two candidates who are strong on health care are going to have to argue with each other when they should be spending time pointing out how much better the Democratic programs are than that of McCain.

http://www.webteacher.ws/
http://first50.wordpress.com/

I've been uninsured for over six years. It's really scary because I know that all it takes is one major illness and I will lose EVERYTHING. Because I have no insurance the hospital isn't going to take as good a care of me, my treatment options will be much smaller, and then there is the problem of paying the bill.
Some kind of national program would be a benefit to everyone. Look at most group insurance policies: healthy people help keep the costs down while a few very ill people bring the costs up. If the program uses the entire population of the United States then costs should be relatively low.
Right now if I wanted to buy decent health insurance it costs more than my mortgage. I've checked, there just anything that is affordable.
Politicians aren't the answer, we need a true grassroot force moving this subject into the forefront.
Lee Cantrell
http://leecantrellspeaks.blogspot.com/

I'm following the healthcare issue pretty closely, but I'm actually more concerned about pharmaceutical industry reform than insurance reform. Don't get me wrong--I recognize the health insurance crisis in this country is huge and was even one of those people who fell through the cracks during the first half of my first pregnancy. But right now, I'm more worried about the way Americans have to pay twice as much for meds as Europeans and Canadians do. Or the way generics are kept out of the market so the bigger companies can protect their profits.

As the parent of a child with a chronic health issue, I pay for prescriptions year-round and notice every little rate hike. I'm VERY interested in what the candidates have to say about drug importation from developed countries and accessibility to more generic options. Honestly, the need for healthcare reform is so great that I'd be pretty happy with Obama or Clinton, as long as they get in there and start fixing this mess.

Amy Anaruk

Asthma Mom

 Hi all- just wanted to comment on this issue- Candidates make universal health care sound like a great deal, but  I want to comment as someone who is on a type of 'universal health care' already. I'm on Medicaid due to illness, and over the last 15 years that I've been on it, I've noticed that we who are on State run Medicaid and Medicare honestly do get second class treatment when it comes to medical care. I really don't blame the surgeons and doctors for doing so, because they only get a tiny fraction of their charge covered by Medicaid, and they end up making far less than they would if I were able to pay the full amount through a real insurance. And things are getting worse as Medicare and Medicaid are now paying even less and covering far less than they once did. If we move to a government regulated national healthcare, we all will suffer for it as Doctor's pay will be greatly reduced in order for the government to pay for the universal system. Folks, you can't believe the cruddy care that I've received over the years- I went 15 years trying to tell Docs (Who treated me as though I were an inconvenience, rather than listening to my complaints) that I was weak and not feeling good. I described my symptoms, but the docs didn't want to put a lot of effort into finding the cause. I had to diagnose myself!

All the symptoms I had clearly indicated a pituitary tumor- and sure enough- once my docs finally ceded it might be after I described it to them, it was 'discovered' that I had a large tumor- I went for 15 years with this tumor and trying to tell docs I wasn't feeling good- They just kept passing me off to other docs who did the same thing- they couldn't be bothered\, because quite frankly, they weren't getting paid enough to put any real effort into researching what was wrong- I had to find the cause myself for crying out loud!

 Anyway, I didn't write that to highlight my particular case, but to point out that this sentiment is VERY common in the medical community when they deal with Medicare and Medicaid patients. I also want to point out that the Government can't even handle paying doctors the full amount of the bill now, what makes us think that if the Government puts everyone on a state medical coverage that they will be able to manage the costs then? The Dems are crying about how much Medicaid is costing them already, and they want to cut deeply into the program, slashing compensations to doctors- and they now want to put everyone on a government run universal system? It boggles the mind the reasoning they use sometimes. 

 http://sacredscoop.com