...decent & affordable health care.

If what I'm reading is true, Americans are going in droves to foreign countries for medical treatment. Including major surgery. For two reasons. The treatment is equal or better than what they can get in the U.S. And it's far cheaper. Often two or three times less that what they'd pay here. Yes, the health care system in the U.S. isn't necessarily the best in the world. In many instances, far from it. One thing for sure, it's the most expensive system in the world. When my Jeanne broke her wrist in Germany in 2002, the doctor and hospital bill combined was about $500. That included delicate surgery to put three pins in the wrist to hold the bone together. Jeanne had the pins removed in America. And it cost several thousand dollars. Fortunately, it was covered by our insurance. But little wonder that insurance premiums are sky-high. Maybe that's another reason why 45 million Americans don't have health insurance. They can't afford it. Let's face it, folks. We Americans are being shortchanged by the people who run our health care system. Namely, the private insurers. The private entrepeneurs. They're bilking us. They're stealing money right out of our pockets. So they can walk away with obscene profits. That's true American-style capitalism. Rob from the poor so the rich can become richer. And we Americans are idiots. For letting it happen. We sit on our fat asses. And die of heart disease and strokes and diabetes. Our infant mortality rate is worse than in some so-called second rate countries. We're fast-becoming second-rate and third-rate when it comes to health care. Nations with socialized medicine do much better than us. But we've resisted socialized medicine. Because we've been told by the private insurers that it's bad, bad, bad. And we're so gullible, we believe it. You won't find countries with socialized medicine getting rid of it. Nope. They like it. Smart Americans are wising up. That's why they are off to foreign countries -- to get decent and affordable health care. --Jim Broede