Medical care; Who gets, who pays?

The nation is now engaged in a vigorous, and sometime heated, debate about universal
medical care insurance. On one side are a broad spectrum of private, for profit, insurers, including insurance companies, the Blues, HMO's, Preferred Provider networks, and a variety of physician and hospital sponsored plans. These are offered
primarily to large groups sharing some common affiliation, by employers, and in somewhat limited fashion to individuals.
On the other side are plans offered by various government agencies such as the one
provided to members of congress, municipality employees, Medicaid, children in low income families, and the like.
Overlying all are Medicare and Veterans care facilities.

Certain facts and vested interests influence the debate:
The total cost of medical care in the United States has been increasing at a rate far greater than the rate of general inflation.
Approximately 50 million Americans have no health insurance, and millions more
have limited coverages which subject them to expenses beyond their ability to pay.
There are tens of thousands of employees and executives on the payrolls of
the private plans, and stockholders who invest in them in the hope of profit.
The cost of health care for the uninsured is borne by taxpayers, in the form
of higher premiums, by providers in the form of unreimbursed services, and the
uninsureds in the form of neglect of treatment with all the consequences that implies.
The overhead costs, profits, marketing expense, dividends, increased administration procedures, etc in the private plans add at least an estimated 33%
to the cost of medical care, with no commensurate benefit to patients. Inflation
increases that load each year, on top of the increase in the cost of providing the care itself.
Despite the high cost the quality of care in the U.S. is inferior to that in most of the other highly developed countries, which provide better care at much lower cost, to everyone.

There is also the philosophical question; Is health care a basic right for citizens
which must be addressed by government? Is it the responsibility of each individual and therefor a matter of survival of the fittest? Is untreated illness a danger to, and a burden on society as a whole, and thus society's responsibility?

Because health care is one of the largest fiscal crises facing the nation
everyone must become involved in the debate, not just the vested interests. The
forgoing information may be helpful. Let your opinion be known to your members of
Congress!