Reply #14: In my view the first thing that needs to happen is health [View All]

insurance should be removed from employer's hands. Since they pay anywhere from 50-80 percent of the premiums it is impossible for the users, namely employees, to have any say so whatsoever in what kind of coverage they receive. All health insurance should be handled by us the consumers just as car and homeowners insurance is. Employers are becoming unable to handle the situation right now and they are facing charging large premiums for the dependents, large co-pays, large deductibles and, in the end, many more people are going to join the ranks of uninsured or have to be responsible for so much of the cost they could go bankrupt if a serious illness comes along. As it stands right now we do not have insurance for health-care, but rather we have insurance for lack of health care. In other words, when we need the health care the insurance company and employer want to get rid of us. I agree that Americans should adopt more healthy living standards (food, exercise, etc), but we should not be threatened when we need to use our health care. That is why we need a single payer, non-profit system. We are already paying for the health-care system three times over what Canada and other places pay. Employers should raise the salaries by what they are paying in health premiums and we should put the money into creating a good system. That's my two cents worth.