6/9     Sez the Canadian Supreme Court:  "delays in the [Quebec] public health
        care system are widespread and that in some serious cases, patients
        die as a result of waiting lists for public health care."
        http://csua.org/u/cb5 [nytimes]
        \_ Meanwhile, 40 million plus Americans have no health insurance of
           any kind.  And god help if you have a preexisting condition and
           become unemployed.
           \_ This fictional 40 million number.... why should the govt
              pay for health insurance for people who rather buy
              new cars and flat screen plasma TVs?  The number of people
              who could not afford health ins., should they actually
              choose to buy it, is very small.  Futhermore, by law no
              one is denied care at a hospital emergency room and
              socialized health care programs already exist.
              \_ I don't know if this is trolling or naivete. "Could not
                 afford" is, perhaps, a subjective term, but data I've seen
                 from at least Mendocino, Sonoma, Lake and Napa counties
                 indicate populations well into the thousands who cannot
                 afford heath insurance and are under-served by the local
                 publicly available health care options. Not to mention that
                 in those counties, as well as in Santa Cruz county,
                 facilities that serve primarily Medicare and Medical patients
                 are closing. "By law" is one thing but have you heard of a
                 "code red" condition? That means the ER at a hospital won't
                 accept any new comers. That said, I don't think any of the
                 folks I'm refering to would be buying new cars or flat
                 screen TVs either. -- ulysses
                 \_ so you know personally know 40 million people without
                    insurance?  "really can't afford health care" can denot
                    alot of categories.  As a graduate student making 30k a
                    year I could afford catastrophic health care or,
                    if need be, go on a government program, as we already
                    have Fed and state programs for people who cannot
                    afford health care.  Let me ask you this - would you
                    agree to tax cuts so people could pay for their health
                    care, or do these people you seem to know not work
                    anyways?
                    \_ The populations to whom I'm referring make typically less
                       than $10,000 a year. Cutting their taxes would still not
                       give them enough money to afford health care. Sample
                       occupations include homecare workers, gardeners,
                       (non-union) custodians. There are many more but those
                       are on the top of my head. These are people typically
                       within two or three multiples of the federal poverty
                       line. You are certainly correct that you, as a graduate
                       student, have more options. The Fed and state programs
                       to which you refer (Medical? Medicare?) only work if
                       there are facilities around to take patients. This is
                       getting lengthy and narrow for the motd so I invite you
                       to sign your login or email me. -- ulysses