Will Fly beat me to it....

I'm a UK resident who has the great benefit of receiving virtually free healthcare from our National Health Service. It's not actually free, I pay a small percentage of my income as National Insurance with funds the National Health Service and the Social Security system.

If I'm unfortunate enough to find myself out of a job, I don't need to pay National Insurance contributions - but I still enjoy NHS healthcare.

As Will Fly points out, our current government seem hell-bent on interfering with the NHS and screwing it up, but that aside:

If I have a health problem I simply pop down to my doctor who does whatever is necessary - AT NO COST TO ME.

If I'm unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident, an ambulance will come along, scrape me up off the ground and deliver me to hospital to be treated - AT NO COST TO ME.

To use Australian parlance....'no worries'.

I keep asking myself the simple question:

What on earth is wrong with having a system that provides healthcare to everyone as a right?

I'm a bear of little brain so simple questions suit me well.

I visit the USA a couple of times a year (indeed I'm in the USA now) and I never fail to be amazed that the richest country in the world seems unable (unwilling?) to provide a competent healthcare system for its citizens.

Interestingly I haven't come across an American citizen yet who thinks that a virtually free 'cradle to grave' healthcare system is a bad thing.

Call me a cynic if you like, but I can't help wondering that the people (politicians) who are objecting to Obama-care are those who have a vested interest in the private health insurance companies over here - those companies will be the losers.

I'll go and lie down in a darkened room.

JJ