Just been reading all this, and I have to say as a UK citizen your healthcare system is pretty barbaric.

There still seems to be some political reticence on the part of some posters to even consider a national health system like we have in the civilised world.

Of course Michael Moore's new film is getting some good press over in the UK at the moment, which I hope is good news for American opinions on US healthcare, I've heard some of the horror stories, and Rex's is one that just wouldn't have happened in the UK. Why the hell should the guy have to worry about money as well as his daughter ?

I'm pretty lucky, I haven't needed the NHS, but I'm more than happy to pay for it, the cost is not exhorbitant as a % of my taxes, in fact it is almost certainly cheaper than your own insurance premiums (I have a rough idea of what you're paying), and remember you've already got a huge (and to my mind) pointless beaurocracy in the form of Medicaid. All having a national health service would mean for America is the elimination of a huge middle tier of insurance agents and claims adjusters, and who'd miss them? I've only needed insurance twice, once for a burglary and once for some drains, on both occasions they've wriggled out of paying the full amount, I'm glad I don't have to trust them for anything else.

I'll buy a raffle ticket to help out one specific (and particularly sad) case in a developing country, but please America, get a health service.....