This is a good post Dave. I feel the same way you do and am not sure how to vote for that reason. I will be interested in what other folks have to say about this. Thanks for posting it. Holly

i have a new respect for australian health care system. we all pay 1.5%(?) of what we have earned on our taxes...medicare levy. if u have a private fund, ours is about $3200.00 year, u don't pay any more. if u don't have private fund, u pay a little more on you tax levy. up till recently, i used to think...but we rarely get sick, so i'm paying for nothing!!! well, eat my own words. we also have a "safety net", where u give medicare all your medical receipts, and when your family reaches $2600.00(?) out of pocket, they pay 85% of the bill instead of 65%(?). at the end of the financial year they send us a statement of how much we are still out of pocket and we can claim a 20% refund on anything over whatever the amount is. there is also a bit where all school children are fully covered, and this payment(levy) is included on our car registration(?) taxes and fees. this was an absolute "godsend" for us last year as the govt paid $60,000.00ish for my 16yo son to be given immunoglobulin. we would have racked up about $120,000.00 in medical expenses last year between son and me, and our final financial outlay would have been about 4-5 thousand. oh yeah, all over 30's need to have private cover, or they get an extra levy also...i think. don't quote me on figures or intellect, this is written in "as i understand it".

This was very thought provoking. Paid healthcare for everyone would be nice, but I don't know if I wanna wait 6 months to see the doctor. This is definitely something I will put a lot of research into.

appointments...
our gp gives ME the referral and i make the appointment to suit me. i don't think i've ever had to wait more than 2 weeks. the referral is good for 12 months and i can go as many times as i need. we can also go to ANY gp we want...i think i heard that in england you are assigned a gp...might be a furfie. our only restriction on gp's is that the govt only allows them a certain number of patients on their books

Thanks for the post and video! I did not know it was against the law in Ontario to have private insurance.. I am also surprised it "only" cost $28,000 for all that guy got. We've got to have some kind of universial health care here.. Small business cannot afford the astronomical cost of medical coverage or insurance, nor can a lot of people. I pay about $5500 a year for private insurance and I still have copays. We have young people here soon to be off their parent's insurance. What is going to happen to them. Then, there was on the news tonight, a cancer patient's insurance was cancelled! I can manage the $5500, but we have many who cannot! I'll still fight for universal health coverage..

You have many ups and downs to universal healthcare. First of all, you can suffer long appointment times, have to settle for whatever Doctor you are assigned and have little to no sayso in your treatment plan.

Just take a look at our military and Native American Healthcare systems. They pretty much suck...and I know from a personal perspective!! Of course, for someone who can't afford any type of insurance/healthcare at all...yes, it would be a Godsend.
~Tonya