[Destroyer]

Damnit Willy... you just said what I was about to say in your last post. Well said my friend.

Websters says that naive is: Naive is a French loanword (adjective, form of naïf) indicating having or showing a lack of experience, understanding or sophistication. I don't know about the sophistication, because I consider myself very sophisticated. (After all, I drive a fancy, dancy Land Rover.) But I, like everyone else here, is naive in one thing or another. Hell, I'm 66 years old and I still don't understand women, so I'm naive in that subject. Point being that no one should take any offense if I say I think they are naive about a particular subject. It's not a slur or an insult, nor should it be looked at that way.

Lets talk for a second about RW's comment(s). Basically, he said that in a perfect society Universal Health Care is a good idea. And I find, after thinking it through, that he's correct and I'm the one that was naive. There's nothing wrong with wanting everyone in the world having equal, quality health care. Truthfully, it's the Christian thing to desire. And, while I'm not sure that it would take a world government to administer something like that, it's an idea that could be explored. So in that respect, and in that respect only, yes, it's a good idea.

The problem is, of course, there is no perfect society. Nor, for that matter, will there ever be one. As long as there is just one person somewhere in the world that is the least bit greedy, just the least bit power hungry, the idea is doomed to failure.

Tort reform is needed. There are people that will say that it's just a small percentage of the costs, but they are wrong. Fear of lawsuits drives everything in our nation now. Just look on the TV... you see ads by lawyers telling you to sue over second hand smoke, and all medications you took in your lifetime, asbestos related illness, accidents, toothpaste, (yes toothpaste) etc etc etc. You hear quick little blurbs on the radio telling you the legal things about car ads, etc. My point is the costs of defending yourself against lawsuits from greedy...yes, I said GREEDY lawyers that make 1/3 to 1/2 of whatever they win in a lawsuit are astronomical. Not only hospitals, but everyone and every company related to health care is burdened by this unnessary expense. So tort reform is first on the list of reforms.
Next, lets look at reforms about buying insurance across state lines. Right now you or your employer can only buy health insurance from companies allowed to operate in your state. So, even though you might be able to buy less costly insurance from a different company in another state you're prohibited from doing so by law. Change the laws... allow free market competition and see how fast the prices drop.
I can go on and on.. it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that there are dozens of areas where real, effective cost savings can be made without sacraficing any quality of health care. We, as a group and as a nation, need to start demanding of our elected reps that they actually do something instead of just giving us lip service while they continue to take huge sums of money from drug, lawyer and insurance lobbys. If they don't, they don't get my vote. Nor should they get yours.