Clinton, have sought to bring up the idea of a national health insurance bill. It has been defeated every time. Who opposes national health insurance? A combination of HMO and pharmaceutical and insurance company lobbyists. Also, those concerned with the overall cost and its effect on the nation's budget. Strangely enough, there seems to be no argument when President Bush asks for $87 billion to rebuild Iraq. Millions of children- and not all of them at the poverty level- are totally uninsured. Those billions could do more good at home here.
Kidder is correct when he writes "All of us face tough choices" (Kidder 1996 3). However, facing tough choices is not the same as having tough choices imposed on one. In the case of health care, it is not merely a choice of which doctor to see, or which surgeon to call on, or even which hospital to enter. It is a choice between illness and the ability to pay. It is
interesting to note that Kidder (16) claims that tough choices tend to pit one "right" value against another. This is hardly the case with America's health care choices and resulting problems. Frankly, for many Americans, including much of the middle class, the tough choice is going into debt, or putting off treatment until one can afford it. On the other hand, the choice is going to a second-rate facility with a less experienced staff. Unlike the top-rated institutions, here everything is crowded. It is often a choice between cure and continuing illness, between life and death in some cases. Kidder (17) separat
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