Scary
You draw an unfair comparison by using computers and shoes as an example for competition in the marketplace.
No one in their right mind, no matter how much they may want them, would put themself in a position of bankruptcy and lifelong debt for a computer or a pair of shoes.

In a matter of life or death, material wealth means nothing and the person suffering through a health crisis will spend every penny they've worked hard for all their lives, remortgage their home, sell off assets and borrow as much as the moneylenders will allow to stay alive.

Healthcare is too important an issue to leave in the hands of the market.
Those providers of private healthcare know people's desperation at times like these and have absolutely no incentive to reduce costs when the patient, driven by that desperation, will go to extreme levels of debt to pay for the care.

Life is a gift and shouldn't be governed by one's level of wealth.

Scary
You draw an unfair comparison by using computers and shoes as an example for competition in the marketplace.
No one in their right mind, no matter how much they may want them, would put themself in a position of bankruptcy and lifelong debt for a computer or a pair of shoes.

In a matter of life or death, material wealth means nothing and the person suffering through a health crisis will spend every penny they've worked hard for all their lives, remortgage their home, sell off assets and borrow as much as the moneylenders will allow to stay alive.

Healthcare is too important an issue to leave in the hands of the market.

Those providers of private healthcare know people's desperation at times like these and have absolutely no incentive to reduce costs when the patient, driven by that desperation, will go to extreme levels of debt to pay for the care.

Life is a gift and shouldn't be governed by one's level of wealth.

Luckily they have their personal electronic devices to pass the time.

You should be thrilled.

Luckily they have their personal electronic devices to pass the time.

You should be thrilled.

Actually, It's big brother that should be thrilled...

It's amazing how the necessities of life such as food clothing shelter and health care have become so overpriced while all those little electronic monitoring and tracking gadgets have become so affordable... ;)

"I'm trying to maintain a shred of dignity in this world." - Me

Do you feel watched, Jeffrey? Do you feel Big Brother is breathing in your neck?

Scary
You draw an unfair comparison by using computers and shoes as an example for competition in the marketplace.
No one in their right mind, no matter how much they may want them, would put themself in a position of bankruptcy and lifelong debt for a computer or a pair of shoes.

The problem with this statement is that if health care were produced like computers, and shoes, and mobile phones, no one would ever have to "put themself in a position of bankruptcy and lifelong debt." (sic)

Why? Because these eeeevil corporations that you so dislike are trying like hell to slaughter each other. In doing so, they drive costs down such that your graphics card or mobile phone probably has more computing power than all of the Apollo missions combined.

There's no reason health care needs to be any different because most of health care is far far more easily produced than the extremely complex electronic devices that are sold for little more than pennies.

In a matter of life or death, material wealth means nothing and the person suffering through a health crisis will spend every penny they've worked hard for all their lives, remortgage their home, sell off assets and borrow as much as the moneylenders will allow to stay alive.

Which only has to happen because the gov't has strangled the system and driven costs through the roof. Why can a simple syringe, consisting of four parts, a tube, plunger, o-ring, and a needle, cost more on a hospital bill than than a mobile phone that cost millions upon millions to develop and produce? Because the gov't has choked the system to death.

If they could get almost all of the care they needed at Wal-mart, going bankrupt wouldn't be an issue.

Healthcare is too important an issue to leave in the hands of the market.

Yay, and since that market has been regulated and meddled to death, the costs of health care is simply beyond the means of poor people. Yet, those very same people can afford mobile phones, color televisions, computers, et cetera.

Those providers of private healthcare know people's desperation at times like these and have absolutely no incentive to reduce costs when the patient, driven by that desperation, will go to extreme levels of debt to pay for the care.

They wouldn't have to do that, any more than they have to go to extreme levels of debt to pay for a mobile phone and service. Why? Because syringes, and drugs, and almost all of health care is no where near as complex and labor intensive as personal electronics. That means that it's easy to drive the costs down, especially as companies compete to put the other out of business. If Sears is charging $2.00 for for a 30 day supply of Vanco, Wal-Mart will do it for $1.00. No one would have to go bankrupt for life saving medical treatment because the treatment does not need to be expensive at all.

Life is a gift and shouldn't be governed by one's level of wealth.

And yet, that's exactly what you've got, courtesy of the gov't meddling in it. The very rich ca buy whatever health care they wish. The poor get to go sit around in emergency rooms and pray because they cannot afford any of it.

Luckily they have their personal electronic devices to pass the time.

You should be thrilled.

Scary
You draw an unfair comparison by using computers and shoes as an example for competition in the marketplace.
No one in their right mind, no matter how much they may want them, would put themself in a position of bankruptcy and lifelong debt for a computer or a pair of shoes.

The problem with this statement is that if health care were produced like computers, and shoes, and mobile phones, no one would ever have to "put themself in a position of bankruptcy and lifelong debt." (sic)

Why? Because these eeeevil corporations that you so dislike are trying like hell to slaughter each other. In doing so, they drive costs down such that your graphics card or mobile phone probably has more computing power than all of the Apollo missions combined.

There's no reason health care needs to be any different because most of health care is far far more easily produced than the extremely complex electronic devices that are sold for little more than pennies.

In a matter of life or death, material wealth means nothing and the person suffering through a health crisis will spend every penny they've worked hard for all their lives, remortgage their home, sell off assets and borrow as much as the moneylenders will allow to stay alive.

Which only has to happen because the gov't has strangled the system and driven costs through the roof. Why can a simple syringe, consisting of four parts, a tube, plunger, o-ring, and a needle, cost more on a hospital bill than than a mobile phone that cost millions upon millions to develop and produce? Because the gov't has choked the system to death.

If they could get almost all of the care they needed at Wal-mart, going bankrupt wouldn't be an issue.

Healthcare is too important an issue to leave in the hands of the market.

Yay, and since that market has been regulated and meddled to death, the costs of health care is simply beyond the means of poor people. Yet, those very same people can afford mobile phones, color televisions, computers, et cetera.

Those providers of private healthcare know people's desperation at times like these and have absolutely no incentive to reduce costs when the patient, driven by that desperation, will go to extreme levels of debt to pay for the care.

They wouldn't have to do that, any more than they have to go to extreme levels of debt to pay for a mobile phone and service. Why? Because syringes, and drugs, and almost all of health care is no where near as complex and labor intensive as personal electronics. That means that it's easy to drive the costs down, especially as companies compete to put the other out of business. If Sears is charging $2.00 for for a 30 day supply of Vanco, Wal-Mart will do it for $1.00. No one would have to go bankrupt for life saving medical treatment because the treatment does not need to be expensive at all.

Life is a gift and shouldn't be governed by one's level of wealth.

And yet, that's exactly what you've got, courtesy of the gov't meddling in it. The very rich ca buy whatever health care they wish. The poor get to go sit around in emergency rooms and pray because they cannot afford any of it.

Luckily they have their personal electronic devices to pass the time.

You should be thrilled.

Personal electronics are optional, healthcare isn't.

As I stated, there is no incentive to drive costs down when the user/payer is desperate for the service.

And it's not exactly what I've got because I am Canadian with single payer healthcare.

I'll never lose my house due to overwhelming medical bills.

No one in their right mind, no matter how much they may want them, would put themself in a position of bankruptcy and lifelong debt for a computer or a pair of shoes.

The problem with this statement is that if health care were produced like computers, and shoes, and mobile phones, no one would ever have to "put themself in a position of bankruptcy and lifelong debt." (sic)

Why? Because these eeeevil corporations that you so dislike are trying like hell to slaughter each other. In doing so, they drive costs down such that your graphics card or mobile phone probably has more computing power than all of the Apollo missions combined.

There's no reason health care needs to be any different because most of health care is far far more easily produced than the extremely complex electronic devices that are sold for little more than pennies.

In a matter of life or death, material wealth means nothing and the person suffering through a health crisis will spend every penny they've worked hard for all their lives, remortgage their home, sell off assets and borrow as much as the moneylenders will allow to stay alive.

Which only has to happen because the gov't has strangled the system and driven costs through the roof. Why can a simple syringe, consisting of four parts, a tube, plunger, o-ring, and a needle, cost more on a hospital bill than than a mobile phone that cost millions upon millions to develop and produce? Because the gov't has choked the system to death.

If they could get almost all of the care they needed at Wal-mart, going bankrupt wouldn't be an issue.

Healthcare is too important an issue to leave in the hands of the market.

Yay, and since that market has been regulated and meddled to death, the costs of health care is simply beyond the means of poor people. Yet, those very same people can afford mobile phones, color televisions, computers, et cetera.

Those providers of private healthcare know people's desperation at times like these and have absolutely no incentive to reduce costs when the patient, driven by that desperation, will go to extreme levels of debt to pay for the care.

They wouldn't have to do that, any more than they have to go to extreme levels of debt to pay for a mobile phone and service. Why? Because syringes, and drugs, and almost all of health care is no where near as complex and labor intensive as personal electronics. That means that it's easy to drive the costs down, especially as companies compete to put the other out of business. If Sears is charging $2.00 for for a 30 day supply of Vanco, Wal-Mart will do it for $1.00. No one would have to go bankrupt for life saving medical treatment because the treatment does not need to be expensive at all.

Life is a gift and shouldn't be governed by one's level of wealth.

And yet, that's exactly what you've got, courtesy of the gov't meddling in it. The very rich ca buy whatever health care they wish. The poor get to go sit around in emergency rooms and pray because they cannot afford any of it.

Luckily they have their personal electronic devices to pass the time.

You should be thrilled.

Personal electronics are optional, healthcare isn't.

As I stated, there is no incentive to drive costs down when the user/payer is desperate for the service.

And it's not exactly what I've got because I am Canadian with single payer healthcare.

I'll never lose my house due to overwhelming medical bills.

As I stated, there is no incentive to drive costs down when the user/payer is desperate for the service.

As I stated, there is no incentive to drive costs down when the user/payer is desperate for the service.

Not only that, but the capitalistic principle of supply and demand is incentive to drive costs up! ;)

(Capitalists prey on the needs of their fellow man.)

Price pressures are influenced by competitors, or the threat of competitors, in the marketplace.

Price pressures are influenced by competitors, or the threat of competitors, in the marketplace.

In theory... But oddly enough, when those 'competitors' are friends, and have been friends for a lifetime, and continue to collectively squash any emerging threats, cost becomes nothing more than an agreed upon value... Maybe you haven't noticed, but ALL huge corporations come in pairs... ;)

Examples:
Apple vs Microsoft
Ford vs Chevy
Pepsi vs CocaCola
Boing vs Lockheed Martin

(It's an elitists game of pillage, nothing more.)

But Jeffrey, none of your above examples are true.

But Jeffrey, none of your above examples are true.

More examples:
Duracell vs Energizer
Haynes vs Fruit of the Loom
FedEx vs UPS
Schwinn vs Huffy
Mongoose vs Cannondale
Midas vs Meineke
Ragu vs Prego
Starkist vs Bumblebee
Skoal vs Copenhagen
Speed Stick vs Right Guard
Sirius vs XM Radio
Direct TV vs Dish Network
Scope vs Listerine
Wahl vs Conair
Visa vs Mastercard
American vs Delta
And of course: Democrat vs Republican

How do you explain all this? Coincidence? ;)

(Your 'system' is but childs play for me.)

Some of us just choose to stay out of it.