Obesity is the biggest health problem of the poor in America. Yes, the poor eat too much.

I agree with the previous point about the need to address the reasons for the relatively high cost of health care provision in the US.  Slimebeasts point about excess testing because the cost is always going to be covered is silly because whether healthcare is being provided privately or publicly, of course it should be regulated.  So i agree, socialising health care in the US right now would not solve the problem.

On the other hand you can't just leave health care provision over to capitalist principles and say everything is gonna be alright.  The whole concept of supply and demand in the economic sense is fine if you are talking about something that isn't essential.  That's why in the case of elective surgery it works fine.  People are only going to pay so much for something they don't actually need so it's up the service provider to meet the needs of the patients.

If you try and apply the same principles to someone requiring a bypass, you are effectively asking someone what price they put on their life.  The system could continue to drive the cost of the operation higher and higer because people would be willing to mortgage themselves out of house and home to save their life.  Lending money to people who may not be able to pay it back is not a good idea.

I'll stop now because this is getting too long.

Because the cheapest food is of the lowest quality and also most unhealthy.

You'd be surprised.  I actually save on my food bills by eating healthy.

It's not that healthy food costs more.  It's that cooking food takes time and energy.

Double cheeseburger $1.29 480 something claories. Not a bad deal. Ready instantly and all the health i need. 5 a day-under 7$ thats cheap!

US Government should spend less on military funding - blowing away trillions on unwinnable wars in Middle East and spend more in fixing up the diabolical US healthcare system.

5 trillion dollars and counting has been wasted by Bush admin and now Obama admin driving US into more debt. Imagine if 1 or 2 trillion dollars had of been spent fixing up the US itself: education, healthcare and transport networks could do with more funding.

The government currently spends something like 680 billion a year on Medicade and Medicare.

So 1 or 2 trillion wouldn't of did much.

Keep in mind that's JUST the federal budget.  And Medicaid is a joint program.  The Fed matches the states.

So about... 400 Billion in Medicare, 280 billion for medicade+ 280 billion the states pay for medicare.

Thats... close to 1 trillion already.

Medicade costs over 500 billion dollars and covers roughly 5% of the US. 

So... 1 or 2 Trillion really wouldn't do it... it MIGHT cover out health bills for our poor and elderly for 2 years.

I'm all for free market, but that isn't a solution to this problem. One: I think you grossly underestimate how much these services would cost (3k for bypass surgery? Really?), and two: something like ongoing cancer or recurring health problems would simply leave a person bankrupt for life. A child born with a debilitating disability? Say goodbye to your future. This is a solutions that still only benefits the rich and very rich and leaves somebody making 30k a year praying that they don't contract anything serious. Even if it's easy to get a loan, how many loans can you get? What happens when after battling your child's lukemia you're half a million in the hole, asking for more money, you're making 35k a year, the kid clearly isn't going to be picking up the bill, and there is no likely hood that you will ever be able to pay it back in your lifetime? Will they still be handing out loans? If you're in a severe car accident you'll get the bill first, and then have to hope that you can get a loan to pay for it? Essentially this makes any serious, illness or accident a death sentence for people who aren't rich.

Our current healthcare system is broken, universal healthcare isn't a great or even good solution for the US (and would never happen due to powerful lobbying groups), but simply saying "the free market will sort it out! It can sort anything out!" is somewhat overvaluing the ability of the free market to benefit all of society, and not just the ones with fat wallets. The free market is a great thing, but it has it's limits. I think you've read one too many ayn rand books.

The proposed solution I gave is not a free market solution. It's basically government paid healthcare, as you alway get a loan. But it's healthcare that puts some responsibility onto the person who is getting treatment.

The reason I am for some level of socialized healthcare, is because it's already socialized. Right now in the US, if you are sick and go to the hospital, you get treated. They bill everyone, but very few pay. The hospital has to stay in business somehow, so they pad the bills of all the people with insurance (it's why a Tylenol cost $20).

So, if we are going to fit the bill regardless of how it's done, I say do it in a manner that drives prices down, and makes the person who is getting the treatment think twice before they go to the hospital with a runny nose.

If I was for a complete free market, I would not want to get rid of health insurance companies, as they are an example of a free market need being filled.

Regulation is needed. Government run anything, sucks.

the UK, and japan and such have like 1/5 and 1/3 of the American population, but America would have to spend 50x the amount those countries spend to cover everyone with health care? Something has gone wrong somewhere along the line.