There's currently a push by the Obama administration to provide health insurance to all Americans.

Do you agree that government run healthcare is a good thing for America? Is healthcare a right or a privilege? Tell us your thoughts.

I come from Europe and in my country it is pretty much unthinkable not to have health care. Health care means you can go to the doctor without worrying you wont be able to keep both of your fingers, because you can only afford to cure one.

In this day, 2009, I think that everyone, no matter what colour, heritage, job or age should have health care. Because there is no reason to have a hospital, if the people that need it, can't afford it. I think it is every man's right to be treated when he is sick.

I can see why right wing people from the US think that the government is meddling a lot into their personal lives and I don't blame them. It is a huge step, but it's one in the right direction. I have had the privilege to be born in a country where these things are all taken care of, but already since 1941!

I think that Obama is doing a great thing and I truly hope he succeeds. Yes You Can, America.

Why do you believe healthcare is a right for every person though? Healthcare requires other people do devote their time and resources to your care. It requires other people to spend money to take care of you. Therefore, it's the same thing as saying "everyone has a right to be taken care of by someone else".

So my question is, what happens if a doctor refuses to take care of someone because it will cost too much? Will the government force the doctor to take care of the person?

If someone is doctor, it's because he or she has the vocation to be it. As the "Hippocratic Oath" says, the doctor commits his or herself to save lifes. If the doctor refuses to take care of someone, even it's expensive, then the "doctor" only see the profession as a business, not as a vocation.

You make a valid point. I've seen polls which show most doctors support some form of public option for healthcare. It seems most of them believe in taking care of others.

OR, perhaps the doctor is looking at the bigger picture, which is that he can't help anyone if he's bankrupt. And his ability to help his regular patients will be compromised long before he gets to that point.

As someone who has needed critical healthcare in the past, I've experienced firsthand the difference between top-flight and second-rate care. So my number one concern about any attempt at reform is that it does no harm to existing services.

If the president really wanted to make a strong case for his reforms, I think he would have been much better off to have taken an existing public health care system like the Veteran's Administration and demonstrated his reforms there first. And while he was at it, he and the other members of congress might have demonstrated their willingness to eat their own dog food by subjecting themselves to the same health care plan. If they had been able to demonstrate a convincing win there, I think it would then be possible to roll out those reforms on a national level.

Unfortunately, I believe Universal Health Care is more important to him as an ideological/dogmatic issue than as a practical matter of improving people's lives.

Health care is a basic need for the human species. Any society which does not provide free health care for everyone is inadequate.

But this is only one problem, merely scratching the surface of the problems with modern social structure. I'm an anarchist, so I basically oppose everything about the political, legal, and economic systems controlling the world today. I'm also a member of the Zeigeist Movement. If you're interested in a social movement which goes beyond politics, poverty, and war, check out the website and the films.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7065205277695921912&ei=z2vNSryvJ4rOqALg1Nn2Dg&q=zeitgeist+addendum#

http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=232&Itemid=50

I do not believe that health care to all people in a country is a right or a privilege. I think it is a policy choice made by a government/people.

So, I could answer this from the a 'country is like a family and we need to take care of our own' standpoint, but then I'll probably be accused of sounding like a communist, again. So, let me try a different tack. No, health care is not a right, but I wouldn't call it a privilege either. A country's goal is to be as rich, productive and happy as possible, a place where everyone wants to live. The U.S.'s current system is so expensive that those without insurance tend to be bankrupted if they have a medical emergency. I had to go to the emergency room for something as stupid as an infected patch of skin on my foot. With insurance it cost me $ 50, if I hadn't had it, it would have been well over a thousand dollars. If people are spending all their money on doctors and meds, then they have no money to spend on shopping. Shopping is what makes America such a superpower. If we make it possible for everyone to have affordable health care, then they have more money to spend on other things, they are better able to work and be productive and they are happier. Happy people are less likely to commit crimes. In short, making sure every American has access to affordable health care is a way to make the U.S. a stronger, safer, more powerful and a richer country. It's like environmentalism, when you do the numbers this is the most cost effective way to improve the country.

I don't have a strong opinion about this subject because I feel it is too complex and complicated to wrap my mind around it. I do, however have a few observations to make and questions to raise. First, don't we already have guaranteed health care for the very needy in the form of Medicaid? People in Louisiana, (where I live) who have incomes under $12,000 a year can simply go to the Social Security office and apply for a Medicaid card, and then use that card to go to any hospital they choose and the government will pay the bill, all of it. Of course, one could ask, what about those whose income is above $12,000 and who have no insurance? I'm sure there are a some of these in America too. But they too are not without options. I personally know of a woman in Biloxi Mississippi who had a 40 hour a week job, became pregnant, had no health insurance (don't really know why) and when she was 9 months due, she drove herself up to the Biloxi hospital, parked in the emergency lane, and said to an orderly nearby, "I'm 9 months pregnant and my water just broke and I have no insurance. Can you help me." The orderly replied, "If you were one block away from here, I'd say "No", but since you are in our driveway, we are legally obligated to take you because you are in a life threatening situation." This is a true story. These examples illustrate that we already have coverage for the very needy, all others have insurance anyway. Also, second question, "How is the US going to pay for all these Trillions of dollars of coverage? Where is the money going to come from?" Even as the year 2000 was approaching 10 years ago, the TV news coverage was saying "Medicare will go broke by the year 2045." If Medicare can't stay solvent, what chance has this new multi-trillion dollar plan got? To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure we can do this even if it is needed, and it's not really clear to me that it is needed.