"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 12 Oct 2010 12:09:06 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

It is important to remember how health
insurance started: It was offered as a fringe benefit by employers
as an inducement to attract and retain good employees. Then it
morphed into an entittlement starting with Medicare/Medicaid.


That's not completely accurate...

Perhaps not every "i" is dotted but it's pretty close for a short two
sentence summary.

My point, confirmed by your article, is that this whole notion of
"health coverage" as an entitlement is a recent thing. The jury is
still out on whether or not this can be provided to everyone without
wrecking the US economy even more than it already is.


It hasn't wrecked other countries' economies, so why would ours be
different. The same was said of women's suffrage. The same was said of civil
rights legislation. If we wait until the "jury is in" to try and make a
positive change, then we will surely suffer. People complain about
entitlements, as though the are terrible things. They aren't. Ask an average
senior if she's willing to give up her SS or Medicare (or for that matter
anyone even close to collecting it)... I think we both know what they'll
say.