How many times must I hear "we have the best health care in the world"? This is absolute nonsense! Better than half the American population has no health insurance and their only access to health care is through emergency room treatment. If the uninsured have any assets worth mentioning they are not eligible for Medicaid. If they receive emergency room treatment and are admitted to the hospital it will likely force them into bankruptcy. Even Richy Rich Republican snobs who do have the means to have insurance are subject to rejection by insurance companies for pre-existing conditions and astronomical deductibles but they generally don't care because they are rich enough to self-insure or get preferential treatment from their insurers because they belong to a corporate insurance pool.
Now the great Republican defenders of unfettered, unregulated capitalism want average Americans to believe that a national policy regarding the health of the populace is socialism (ohmygod!) and unconstitutional. The Republicans are spinning their wheels and wasting tons of taxpayer money putting on dog and pony shows in congress and many state courts and legislatures to challenge the constitutionality of the health care bill just enacted. President Obama is a Harvard educated constitutional scholar and surly is well aware of the constitutionality of any legislation that he sponsors. Unlike grandstanding Republicans, he surly knows what the preamble to The Constitution of the United States means when it states at the very top of the document that its' purpose is to "promote the general welfare". Promoting the general welfare is precisely the reason that all states require automobile owners to purchase liability insurance.
What is the Republican strategy to reign in health care costs? Tort reform. In other words limit the average Americans' ability to sue for medical malpractice and all other civil suits. This will save the insurance industry billions which I assure you will not be passed on to consumers in the way of lower premiums.
Regarding other more enlightened countries...
Canada, England, France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, to name a few, all promote the general welfare of their citizens by subsidizing health care. All these countries have statistically better recovery outcomes, at substantially lower costs, than the "greatest nation on earth". By subsidizing routine medical check ups and doctor visits their citizens do not wait until they are at deaths door to seek treatment and do not need to incur the unnecessary expenses of "heroic measures" treatments. Don't believe me? Then check this.
God forbid the average American's freedom to be screwed by insurance companies and complaisant corporate Republican shills should be abridged! President Obama and the Democratic party have proven that they care about average Americans and want to "promote the general welfare" by sponsoring and enacting this legislation
