Well, let me start off by saying that even in a country with universal health care, John still would have had an issue. THERE'S A TUMOR IN HIS BRAIN! That qualifies as an issue for me. But at least with universal health care, he could have had the tumor removed, which is always a plus.

The health care debate confuses me. It sure seems to me like universal health care would be an amazing thing to have, a great step forward for our country. A healthier country is a happier and more productive country. Everything about universal health care seems good. Yet, there are still people that oppose it, and I have a hard time believing that they based their opposition to a great social reform like health care on something as trivial as a higher sales tax, particularly when the people who typically oppose universal health care (the right wing) for the most part are already paying for health insurance. It's true that the right wing has their thing against giving out handouts, "teach a man to fish," and all of that, but surely health care ought to be an exception. If you give a man a fish, you can feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you can feed him for a lifetime, but if you let him die at age 30 of cancer or heart disease, malnutrition or exposure, he won't be catching too many fish, will he?

I've heard some pretty wild arguments against universal health care. I heard one guy try to make the point that universal health care takes the burden of financial responsibility off of the individual, so naturally, people will all stop taking care of themselves, take up skateboarding and smoking, and become extremely obese, since they want to get their money's worth out of their health care system, thus drastically increasing the cost of health care. It doesn't take a rocket psychologist to figure out that people probably won't do that. I've also heard that universal health care systems are typically lower quality than private ones. This idea at least has some basis in reality, considering that government-subsidized VA hospitals are not exactly renowned for... anything good. But according to my very reliable sources, there is no real difference in quality.

It seems to me that only good can come of universal health care policies. I understand that it would certainly have an impact on other costs, and for me especially, since I don't currently pay for health insurance, nor do I have a steady source of income. But universal health care may be just what this country needs, because NO ONE should ever have to be denied health care -- be it a life saving surgery or just a trip to the doctor's office.