I sit next to this guy at work who is 25 years older than me, smokes, has asthma, is 50 IBS overweight. In fact, he is in such poor health he will be lucky to make it through the fiscal year. Yet we still pay the same amount each month for employer covered health care.I think the reason that health care is so expensive is that the people making bad decisions (i.e. the fat guy that sits next to me) don't have have to pay for their bad decisions. Wouldn't universal healthcare just be this on a massive scale? Also, the really poor people get medicaid and don't pay their bills anyway, so what is the difference?

Looks like you are the one convincing me.... damn fat people

People often feel more positive about universal health care when they have had the experience of sudden, catastrophic illness and the inability to continue to work.To people who have the benefit of universal health care, the stories of indifference and intolerance that we hear from less advanced countries are surprising.An important advantage of a National Health System is the "bulk" effect of the whole population buying the same insurance through the same insurer (the government.) That means that younger, healthier people, like you, will be covered irrespective of your employment, for your whole life, at a lower cost. If you become unemployed you will not have to be concerned if you also become sick. I hope it all works out for you.

So people who make "bad decisions" shouldn't have access to health care? If that's true, who decides what are "bad decisions?" What about sedentary people, or those who choose to live near a refinery, or those who engage in extreme sports? OK, rant over. If you are unlucky enough to get a disease which requires extensive medical care, and lose your job, you will not be able to get coverage for that disease again. Not so with universal health care. I have read a survey (and I'll try to find it for you) which posits that people who pay premiums for health care would wind up paying a lower amount in health taxes with UHC. Fewer and fewer employers are providing health care to their employees. Most of the uninsured are middle class families. They cannot afford health care for themselves or their children, but are not eligible for Medicaid (which only covers about 15% of the population). With UHC they would all be covered, cradle to grave. Businesses would save money by not having to purchase workers compensation insurance. Medical providers would benefit, as there would no longer be uncompensated services. Granted, there are drawbacks--doctors' salaries would be capped, there could be longer waits for medical care, it would be a large bureaucracy subject to mismanagement (although HMOs suffer the same mismanagement).