Originally Posted by serenityseeker

We will have to just agree to disagree. In my book health care is not on a par with cars busses and cab fare, and I suspect many feel that way...just my supposition though. The "fair or not" proviso seems to hold well for a lot of people until they are in a position of having no way to afford healthcare, or until their parents or children are impacted by it.
The fact is health care is different, and there are some moral and ethical considerations that go beyond those cars, cab fares etc. When you have to look at the 75 year old that comes in bleeding from her brain because she couldn't afford her blood pressure medicines it colors you. When you look at the man that had a lifesaving cardiac catheterization and stent placed last year when he had insurance, only to have it clog off because he lost his insurance he could no longer afford the 300 dollar a month medication to keep it open, it changes you. When you see people lucky enough to have elective joint replacements as compared to the old man or lady relegated to being a shut in because one hip or knee is so eroded and painful as to preclude walking it changes one's awareness.
If health care left to the private sector worked so well we would not have the catastrophe we see now. If you are not in the catastrophe it is often hard to appreciate it.
Looking at better ways to provide comprehesive availibility of healthcare does guarantee we on are the slippery slope to unabashed socialism (for whatever that term is worth). It simply means we as a country have decided that some things are that important, healthcare being the prime example.
Again, I submit that culling the administative overhead, severely weeding out beuracracy, putting the brakes on malpractice, and making pragmatic choices about what we provide and when would provide much of the "how do we pay for it answers".