In an attempt to answer a comment on my blog, I found this Time Magazine article of Augusst 18, 2009.  Please repost it, as it contains very excellent and concise comparisons between American and British healthcare systems. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1916570,00.html?xid=rss-top-aol

Arguments and shouting are all about over healthcare.  This normal and healthy with a contraversial issue.  I have a firm belief that once A HEALTHCARE BILL is passed, it will take a similar path as all new laws... changes will be made in the future... amendments passed... as it morphs into a form of healthcare that is the pride of our country.  This is how Social Security has developed over the years.  See

http://www.ssa.gov/history/history.htm

Social Security was not easy to birth.  FDR was called a commie and worse.  People were up in arms, literally.  But they were suffering, and so from that suffering following the Great Depression, came something which now provides income for our elderly, disabled, and orphans.  A wonderful, wonderful thing.

I am proud to be an American... and we must join together, educate ourselves and take positions, while realizing only an open mind can learn.  No position on a rock can be held if an ocean wave approaches.  The same is true with learning.  It is only with open minds, and a willingness to learn that our country and its people can progress.  It is the key to maintaining our freedom and democracy.  Without our participation and help, the government will fall into anarchy.  That is the history of all democratic societies. 

 Quote from Time article (link above):

Like most developed countries, Britain ranks above the U.S. in most health measurements. Its citizens have a longer life expectancy and lower infant mortality, and the country has more acute-care hospital beds per capita and fewer deaths related to surgical or medical mishaps. Britain achieves these results while spending proportionally less on health care than the U.S. - about $2,500 per person in Britain, compared with $6,000 in the U.S. For these reasons, the World Health Organization (WHO) ranked Britain 18th in a global league table of health-care systems (the U.S. was ranked 37th).