Oregon-Health in the state of Oregon is in trouble, primarily because Oregon took a big hit in the recession and has not yet recovered. Several years ago they dropped - or planned to - a great many of those covered under the plan.

But they kept a great many on its rolls. My brother had been a very heavy smoker, developed emphesema, couldn't walk 10 feet without gasping for breath. He was on Oregon Health and they did a fantastic job keeping him alive. A person who was congenitally suspicous of government with its authority and rules, he ended up totally dependent on it.

The last few years of his life he was in and out of the hospital dozens of times a year. I have no idea what they did- but the medics would come to his home and take him in unable to breathe and then call four or five hours later to have someone come collect him. He would be back to his normal breathless self.

He died at the age of 72, having lived much longer than he had any reason to expect.