Political Identity Crisis

IMO, the lack of universal health care is the biggest problem in the USA. Thousands die EVERY MONTH because of inadequate or non-existant health care yet all we here about is terrorism, the drug war, etc.Far more people die EVERY YEAR (and probably every month) than have been killed by terrorism in the entire history of the United States. Yet we waste all our tax money on the military (I do a lot of govt. contracting, so I know exactly how wasteful the govt. (esp. military) is) when our own health care system is a much bigger danger.Personal health care savings accounts are a joke that won't help anyone except those who can already afford health insurance.HEALTH CARE IS ALREADY TAX DEDUCTIBLE!!! and people STILL can't afford it.Ok, I will now step off my soap box.

What I am in favor of is a single payer system for some basic level (but not too basic) of health coverage. Those that can afford it would still be free to purchase their own additional health insurance or services.Basically everyone would be covered with decent insurance and those that want more can pay for it.

Well Rand,The govt. certainly shouldn't cover everything (I'm sure we agree on that).... For example, cosmetic surgery, cosmetic orthodontia, etc. etc. should be elective and paid for through private funds or insurance.Of course the trick is to figure out what to cover... but the insurance companies don't seem to have a problem coming up with lists of covered things, so it can't be that hard.We really need a single payer system at some level because it is the most efficient (economies of scale) AND health care is really the most effective when everyone is covered. Every single uninsured person increases health care costs for those of us who are covered.