I belong to only one forum, a horse racing forum, of course. We got into a discussion on Health Care Reform, and here’s my considerably-more-than-two cents:

I have relatives in England and New Zealand.

You want Lasik, yes, you might be on a waiting list and may have to pay for some of it yourself. Big deal.

Here’s what I know about my relatives. They don’t even think about health care. It’s not an issue, because they know they are taken care of. They don’t worry.

They don’t worry that a cystitis infection in their twenties gives them a “pre-existing condition” for just about everything under the sun.

They don’t worry that if they leave the job they hate, they won’t be able to get health insurance next time around, because of their “pre-existing condition.”

They don’t even think about the words “pre-existing condition.”

They don’t worry about seeing their paychecks stagnate because the employer is paying more and more for their health care.

They don’t worry that the employer will have to let them go because he is paying more for healthcare and can’t do it anymore.

They’re not the employer who sees his health insurance bill jacked up forty percent a year.

They don’t worry about going for that mammagram because they’re worried something might be found and then they won’t be able to get health insurance, so they’d just rather risk dying.

They don’t cram the emergency rooms when things get so bad they’re near death.

They don’t worry about the bills piling up to the tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands.

They don’t worry about having a chronic illness, or their kid having a chronic illness, and suddenly being denied coverage by their for profit health insurance company.

They don’t worry about losing their house due to hospital payments.

They don’t worry about personal bankrupcy due to medical bills.

They don’t worry about a hospital putting them in a taxi and dropping them off in the street to fare by themselves.

They don’t worry that they will die because they can’t get a treatment for something, if caught early, can be completely cured.

They don’t undergo that kind of stress, at all, and they think we’re fricking nuts, especially because we call this the government for the people by the people. And they don’t understand why Dick Nixon made the decision to make a profit for a big bloated middleman that sucks up all the cash like an Electrolux but only profits when they’re not paying out.

If you think your health insurance is great, I hope you never find out what happens when you get some dread disease. It might be good health insurance, or it might not be. I wouldn’t bet on it being good health insurance when costs skyrocket into six figures.

And if you’re young and don’t think you need it, think about this: one kick from a horse at the wrong moment, and all your friends will put together a bake sale to try and raise the money to save your life.

Sure, they pay taxes. It comes out of their paychecks a little at a time. But they hardly notice it. And it’s there for them when they need it.

Nothing is perfect.

But there is nothing so imperfect as the “system” we have in this country.

And yes, for all you red-blooded patriots who think I shouldn’t bad-mouth this terrible state of affairs, I would move to New Zealand in a hearbeat, if they’d have me.

But they have strict standards as to who gets in. It’s kind of an exclusive club—of people who have very little stress. Lucky bastards.