"John Hardly,
Do you really think that access to an Emergency Room is suitable "health care" for anyone let alone children?"

No. But that's not the question I was answering, is it?

The unqualified statement was "45 million US citizens deprived of health care, of which 9 million are children". They are not deprived of health care. They cannot be turned away. We are not the cruel bastards that Don (wysiwyg)T implies in his initial post. We are not depriving anyone of health care. What we have is millions of people without health insurance, not without health care..


"The rich will still have access to private health care and doctors driving Mercedes will still afford them."

But as you know, the sticking point to our adopting universal health care is that those same "wealthy" -- that is, anyone making more than $75,000 per annum -- will have to pay for universal health care for EVERYONE first...and THEN, if they can still afford it on top of that paying for health insurance, they can then pay for private health care. It's the only way that universal health insurance can be paid for.

Do the doctors you know drive Mercedes? The ones I know do not. My brother drives a 2004 Dodge Caravan. My doctor drives a honda. In fact, I don't know a doctor who drives a Mercedes.

"For those supporting nationalized health care, keep in mind that things will change very quickly. Non-emergency and elective surgeries will not be immediately available. Now if my doctor finds a suspicious lump, I see a specialist the same day or within 24 hours. That simply won't happen. You will wait for surgeries that you think are critical but the doctors know better. As with everything else, there will be a downside. "

Yup. On top of that -- competition and market forces being what they are -- those dependent upon the new universal health care will not get be best doctors. The best doctors will be going to the private practices where they can be be paid for their labor, knowledge and risk.