Healthcare Crisis

It's very encouraging to see the Obama administration moving so quickly to address the health care crisis in this nation. That said, I know there are many who fear health care reform and think that it means socialism, limits to care and long waits.
The truth is there are many examples of successful universal health care systems in the world, some probably more appealing to conservative Americans than others. And in a country like ours where a person goes bankrupt from health care costs every 30 seconds, it's time to start taking a look at them.
In England (what we typically think of as "socialized medicine"), they pay for services through taxes and use a primary physician as a "gatekeeper" to keep costs down, similar to our HMOs. There may be wait times for elective services, but they are a leader in preventative medicine.
The Japanese can see anyone they want, and they spend 1/2 of what we do per capita on healthcare while covering everyone. Premiums are paid into a central fund and employers generally pay half.
In Germany, the health care system includes dental, optical and alternative therapies. Med school is free and a family doctor still makes $120,000.
Malpractice costs are 1/10 of those in the U.S.
Even Switzerland, which is just as free-market driven as we are, has a universal health care system with insurance companies involved. Although premiums are quite high, they don't have to worry about co-pays, deductibles or expensive claims being denied.
The point of this letter is to show that there are many options for universal healthcare and that providing healthcare to everyone does not make us "socialist," it just catches us up with the rest of the world. In a successful system, insurance companies (if used) act as non-profits for basic care, everyone is covered, and the government and care providers agree on standard pricing for services.
It's time to make the U.S. healthy again and profitable in the world market by addressing this problem. Let's keep our minds open to the possibilities.
Christy Swift
Lake Placid