Would we benefit from universal health care?

ah... yes. I have no insurance - I can no longer afford it. So under the present republican plan I can go die in a ditch. People in every civilized country just can't believe how screwed America is on health care. This country is now the worst of any of the industrialized countries. Great country if you don't get sick!

absolutely you would benefit. for one thing, no one would lose their home because of medical costs. there is more info here: http://cthealth.server101.com/the_case_for_universal_health_care_in_the_united_states.htm

It depends on the design of the program. There are a LOT of different models for universal health care. One benefit would be having everyone covered. This would reduce the costs of caring for poor people. Right now we wind up paying huge sums for uninsured or underinsured people when they are seriously ill. Also, many systems are designed to focus on preventative care (we tend not to do this) and thereby reduce the need for advance interventions later on.

We here in the U.K wouldn't really benefit from it as we already have the NHS. However Americans would. "Second, if everyone got the same care, the wait for the care would be long. You could wait a week or more for a MRI you need now. If you broke your leg, how long would you have to wait to get a doctor to see you." At least everyone would have access to the same healthcare though regardless of how much money they had. Here in the U.K if you break your leg it would take an hour to 3 hours to be seen by a doctor depending on the time and day. So that isn't really that long to wait. "Third, if you can afford good health care, you should be able to get the care you need and want, not some doctor who doesn't care because everything is the same." In the U.K we have both a national, free service and private services. Meaning that if you have enough money you can go private, where waiting time for scans is greatly reduced and quality of care "is" (or at least should be) better. This means that both rich and poor alike can get access to good health care unlike the US which has a terrible set up. Where people's health is something to make a profit out of like everything else.

Yes. People argue that you can't choose your own doctor, of course you can choose, under our current health care, the insurance agencies choose for you. They also argue that you have to pay more taxes that is also false. We spend approx. 15.2% (Around $6500) of our GDP on health care every year, and the UK only spends 8.2% ($3000) of it's GDP.

how many people who spend all of their money on health care do not die? insurance companies make their money by denying claims auto insurance as well if people had to pay cash, health care costs would drop by 2/3

Yes, it would ensure a minimum of care, which protects the entire population. Although I am a fan of Michael Moore and liked Sicko, it was a bit overstated. There are problems with the system it's true. But not everyone deals with the situations he highlighted. here are safety nets that he left out in his coverage. The US system needs reform as it has been hijacked by the health insurance corporations in the last 25+ years. But no one has a perfect system. There is always room for improvement. Getting the for-profit corporations out of the picture is a much needed step. In the last 8-10 years as a working adult my benefits have changed so much and gotten so complicated, anything would be a relief. The system is broken and needs reform. Taxes would not be insanely expensive as the corporations would not be getting the $$ they are now - it would actually go towards healthcare rather than into their pockets. I think universal healthcare is a good idea that will save us all money. Right now the corporations are simultaneously killing people and bleeding us dry. The money is there already - it is just not being used well. The UK, Canada and Japan all have good models for a revised system By the way, Americans did not choose this setup. We (or rather our parents) were sold a bill of goods. Thatcher in the UK tried to take apart the NHS in the 80s - if she had succeeded, the brits would be in the same boat as the US. The system wasn't always bad; 30 years ago the health industry was not like this in the US. When I was a child doctors determined my care, not insurance hacks with no medical knowledge or morals.

No, there is no freedom in universal health care, and the tax cost for it is amazing. You might as well kiss your paycheck goodbye.

If you are sick you would definitely benefit from Universal health care. As the first person said the Tax is high for it so kiss your pay check good bye. With non universal healthy care you only have to kiss your pay check good bye if you ever do get sick and all your claims are deny ed which of course will happen/does happen. So if your sick YES you need universal health Care. If not, then no. I personally do all I can to help out with the health care in general weather it be volunteer work or spreading awareness and if the option came to donate a higher tax for better health care I would take it but you can not force that choice upon every one due to forcing people to care about others is non American.