Cafeoutdoors.com: Just for Ozark

Gee, I feel special - and I like Ann.

I dunno - son-in-law Doctor makes about $365,000 a year. He spent 16 years in school and training to get to that point, much of which time was absolute hell. Also, he started his career with over $200,000 in student loans to repay.

Every year, daughter and son-in-law pay over a hundred grand in federal and state income taxes - more money than I even make now. Because of all the schooling, he didn't start making good money until his mid-30's - so he won't have too many earning years. No, I don't think he's particularly overpaid.

Anyway, son-in-law says it's the hospitals, medical corporations, and HMO's who are really cutting a fat hog in the ass. He'd make a lot more money if he was a top executive in one of those. And even there, the bulk of the money isn't going to employees - it's going to owners/investors.

I was thinking about something - and you can go ahead and call me a communist if you want:

Isn't basic health protection really like protection against fires and crimes? Anyone in this country can call the fire department or the police department if they need help - for no extra charge. We're all taxed to pay for that.

If I pay those taxes all my life and my house never catches fire, did I get gypped? No - because the protection was there anytime I might have needed it.

It seems to me that basic health care is the same thing. I can't afford to hire full-time private guards and a fire truck to stay on my property in case they're needed. Fortunately, our society has developed a workable, affordable system for that - and well-trained professional firefighters and policemen with all the necessary equipment are available to me 24/7.

I think basic medical care could be handled the same way. As it is now, I could afford to have a broken leg fixed. I couldn't afford to fight cancer, heart trouble, or many other ailments. Only very rich people could afford that - and we just can't have a system where rich people get care and working people can't. As a stopgap, our society is more or less handling that inequity right now with insurance and welfare. That could be done a lot better.

I think basic medical care is in a primitive stage now - like in the 1860's when private firefighting companies would negotiate with a homeowner in front of his burning house, until they agreed on the price he would pay to have the fire put out.

I know - government tends to screw up what it touches, and health care is much more complex than firefighting and police protection. Still, I think it's encouraging to think that we've already done this (protecting people against things they can't protect themselves against) with our successful system of fire and police departments.

Surely we could use that as a model, take the fraud and profiteering out, give good salaries to every medical professional, and provide basic health care to everyone.

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