It we *had* to have mandatory health insurance, I'd like to see them deal with the problem your 2nd sentence mentioned - the cost.

Health-care reform should be concerned with lowering costs FIRST. *THEN* we can see what we can do about getting everyone covered - that part is (or should be) another debate entirely.

The fact remains that we're paying more - the MOST on the PLANET - and getting less. There are a lot of reasons for that, but that's the elephant in the living room that has to be addressed first.

There is no good reason why the first-rate care I got in Montreal had a list price of $600 (at the time) and would have had a price tag of a few thousand here. There was nothing exotic. A few tests, x-rays, some morpheine, doctors and nurses checking in on me - all in the emergency room overnight.