Master Betty wrote:

....there is some truth to what you are saying...No study is going to
be perfect but to totally dismiss it is also a mistake.

A decade really isn't that long considering nothing in our country has
changed much other than Rx coverage for seniors.

Forgive me if I still find it relevant even though some guy on the
internet named "Heybub" says it's poo poo. :-)

You know, you guys seem to be missing the big picture.

Look at the cost savings of streamlining the healthcare system to a
one payer system.

I'm not going to try to convince you because I doubt you have the
knowledge I have from working in the beast for over a decade.

HC in the US involves so much bureaucracy. I've spent hours in Social
Security hearings with ALJs Doctors and Therapist. The time those
hearings take could be eliminated right there. You may get the
opportunity to get a Medicare claim denied and you'll see what I mean.

The 2 payer system creates another massive layer of paper work most
people are not really aware of. A HUGE portion of your hc dollar goes
to needless paperwork and feeding a world of paper pushers you are
not probably totally aware of.

If we did go to a "national" hc system this ALL could be done with a
push of the button by THE DOCTOR. No billing office!

I've debated this before and found most ng bloggers lack much of an
understanding about the process. Sorry, but to me, you guys are like
fish in a barrel. Face it........there is a lot we need to learn.

Look what you're saying. You assert that a massive amount of time and
treasure is wasted in a bureaucrat-heavy government system, then you declaim
that all this could be eliminated by converting EVERYTHING to a government
agency!

I object also to your dismissal of various positions because "most are not
aware" and "lack much of an understanding." Your claim might have more
credence if you had said "... it SEEMS as if most are not aware..." and so
on. But, evidently faced with the certainty of your position, you apparently
attribute ignorance (or malice) to those of differing views. In my case, not
only did I put in my time in the largest cancer research hospital in the
country, but had an interesting tenure as an Administrative Assistant to a
United States Senator. I know how both the health care system and the
political machinery work.

I also find it astounding that you make the claim that "nothing has changed
much" in a decade. Here's five off the top of my head:

* Robotic and laproscopic surgery
* VERY smart chemotherapy (actually antibodies)
* Artificial limbs
* Mapping the human genome
* Erectile disfunction therapy (which has implications far beyond putting on
a happy face)

While a bit more than a decade old, pharma no longer finds an exotic
organism then hunts for the disease it might cure. Drug companies now create
the drugs they need from scratch, thereby eliminating the last barrier to
clear-cutting the Amazon rain forest.

Had you been more involved in the health care field, you no doubt would have
known about the above - and probably a lot more.

(Just jerking your chain a bit... but you kind of dared me...)