We printed some responses to our previous question, “Should we guarantee health care for all our citizens?,” in the last issue. Here are some more of them: ABSOLUTELY! How can any person claiming to care for humanity say no?

–Rachel Spitzer

Absolutely, yes. We already provide health care for everyone, but in a ridiculous, inefficient manner. Federal rules force hospital emergency rooms to treat everyone who comes in the door. Therefore, ERs are constantly full of poor people with non-urgent but real health concerns, who have no insurance. When people with true emergencies show up, in many places they can wait half a day or more to have a broken bone taken care of because the ER staff is taking care of routine health care for the poor. Taxpayers foot extraordinary bills for such services.

My oldest son, a Philosophy professor, lives in New Zealand. His wife’s pregnancy and her birthing experience with our recently born grandson were splendid. Care at the government run facilities was much better than women receive here. They never had to wait more than 10 minutes to see the doctors or practitioners and their total bill was $0.00. In return, the people and government of New Zealand were more likely not to have to support a child born with preventable disabilities.

My family’s experience with “socialist” medicine in New Zealand was splendid. People there pay higher taxes, but no one worries about losing their homes or retirement savings to pay for medical catastrophes. It is lunacy that we do not have such a system here.

–Rabbi Dr. Doug Weber

In this day and age it seems barbaric that health care is only available to people who can afford it. Hospitals used to be where poor people went to die because they couldn’t afford house calls from doctors. And now the poor stay home while the rich go to hospitals. Interesting paradigm shift.

I think the argument that is being ignored in Washington is that it’s not insurance that is really out of hand, it’s the cost of care. We must get at the root of the problem instead of tending to the offshoots.

If I want an EKG in Canada it will cost the same in Nova Scotia and in British Columbia (because the government is footing the bill). Here in the states it can vary by as much as $100 just by going across town (Chicago was where I priced it last).

I never thought of health care as a For-Profit enterprise until I met a doctor who had moved back to Vermont because he wasn’t getting paid enough in Canada.

Until healthful foods and activities are affordable for all, the least we can do, as the wealthiest nation on the planet, is to make sure every citizen has health care.

–Blithe Devon