The problems with the VA and the Indian health Service (the other government run health care system we have already) is more because of funding than that they are government run. And not all VA hospitals are bad, some are very good, which is also true for the Indian health Service from what I understand (my ex-husband was Cherokee and my ex-mother-in-law worked at one of those hospitals). And despite their problems, the people that are covered by these benefits never have to worry about fighting to get care when they need it, like Petey and many others have had to do.

If we took the money we put into private insurance companies, who need to post large quarterly profits, and put that into a national system, we could have a high quality one. As a nation, we spend more on health care than do the nations like Canada and the UK with state-run systems. And yet, we have many many people who don't have any coverage and others who believe they are covered then have essential treatment denied due to some loophole in their contract when they really need it! Why is that? Because what we spend is going to insurance company stockholders a profit.

Believe me, I have no problem with publicly held companies, owning stock, or making money from that (That's what my retirement account is all about). But it's just totally incompatible with quality health care.

Nelie