What's In It for ME?

A couple of days ago a close friend said that Americans want to know what's in it for them in terms of immediate benefits ... such as in Joining Nine-Nine-Oh-Nine! to give some indication that there is interest in writing notes to the U.S. Congress.

Isn't it good enough to have a more caring society ... and remember the details that preceded of Sally Brown's death on the 10th of January 2008?

Examples of those details:

• "asthma, emphysema and congestive heart failure"
• "every breath an agony"
• "little more than a year to live"
• "medical bills piling at her door"
• "(health insurance company) ... policy had been canceled"
  
• "unable to work at the job she loved"; "(employer) terminated her employment"
  
• "disability expired the same week she lost her job"
  
• "more than $20,000 in bills"

Isn't it good enough to remember that citizens of other countries are more satisfied with their health care system than we are with ours, often simply because they know that people get care? -- See "World's Best Medical Care?" PNHP 8-20-07 here.

My family of four lived in Canada for over four years. After several years of having been back in the United States, I started asking Canadians what they think of the health care there. The first answer I received was very positive and was based solely on the fact that Canadians care for one another. To give you another example of an answer, the last reply that I received from a Canadian was only one word: wonderful. But let's not focus on individual answers, just refer to the previous paragraph.