If we look back in five or ten years, how many will be bankrupted or homeless from the expenses? Just wondering why Americans don't have health insurance as good as Belgium? Holland? New Zealand?|||At least she VOTED for the Health Care bill. It got her office vandalized in March.|||Probably none of them will be bankrupt or homeless. There are just a few more people in the United States than in the countries listed. Add to that about 14 million illegal aliens that are taken care of at US taxpayer's expense and you begin to see why it's nearly impossible to insure everyone. Plus, there is a system in place for low income people and families (Medicaid) that pays for everything - again, at taxpayer's expense. Another system is there for the elderly, disabled and those with end stage kidney disease (Medicare).If people don't have health insurance, most hospitals and doctors will be happy to set up payment plans, and if $25 a month is all a person can afford, that's what they pay. And hospitals write off quite a lot of fees for care provided. (Ever see any articles about some person being treated in the US - and the hospital and surgeons have all waived their fees? Well, "someone" is paying for all that "free" care down the road, trust me. People with insurance get it passed on to them in the way of higher premiums and deductibles.) I live in New Zealand and health care is not totally "free" - it's paid for by taxes, and we have a GST of 15% - and that is on everything, including food. I also pay a fee when I see my GP. Medications are limited here, too - I had to change one medication when I got here as the one I had been on in the states is not available here. There have been articles in the paper recently about how people are flocking to emergency rooms with minor illnesses and accidents because it costs "too much" to see a GP - especially after hours and on holidays. And, of course, the GPs who are only out for the money, are to blame. (Yeah, right! Would you work for free? Stay up nearly 24 hours treating people who want instant cures for colds? Or treating people who are throwing up because they spent the day before drinking themselves to oblivion? Or who have a baby with a little vomiting and diarrhea? I doubt it - but that's what our GPs do! They SHOULD be paid!) I worked in a system that had several large hospitals and I can tell you that the hospitals also got tax money for "indigent care" - in other words, people who couldn't pay.

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