Oddly, when I got to the part about Switzerland I noticed that there was some talk about the pharmaceutical companies and about how the change in policy would devastate these areas. At some point later on a pharma representative comes on a talks about how the change had not affected the profits much, this was because the largest chunk of what they made was earned here in the US.

We have a larger lobby to contend with here

I am gathering information on the healthcare debate. Please visit my blog http://urtak.com/u/310 it has a series of questions. If you are interested you can post questions as well. All are encouraged, please pass the link on to others.

Seniors are obviously less healthy than average, because all humans die eventually – and Medicare is generally the payor for expensive end of life care. Poorer Americans typically have higher incidences of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other conditions, and so those costs fall disproportionately on the government as well.

With regard to a public option, the health care reform proposals currently under debate remove the ability of insurers to reject individuals based on medical history – presumably this will help even the sick get private insurance. It remains to be seen how the final reform plan will be structured, however, so this question can’t be fully answered just yet.

Will Munger
Duluth, Minnesota