[speaker002:] okay universal health insurance right
[speaker001:] okay um that's right
[speaker002:] um
[speaker001:] what would we like to say I think
[speaker002:] well I think universal health insurance like national health like what Canada has is that what you're you're thinking this subject is about
[speaker001:] um-hum I think that's what the subject is about
[speaker002:] did you read uh the article in the paper today about this particular subject
[speaker001:] in the Dallas the Morning Times I guess I did not
[speaker002:] yeah uh the state of Washington and the state of Minnesota is uh going to begin testing a program a state funded program for citizens of those two states and there's fourteen other uh states that are considering it least according to the article in the paper this morning I think it's a trend that's that's that's uh probably may go nationwide eventually because I think national health is something that we all need it's getting to a point that you have to have it you have to have some form of health insurance and extremely expensive though
[speaker001:] well it's been interesting that we yes so we live in a society though where everyone if you ask them on polls will um say that they think that everyone has a right to health care
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] and yet I don't think we've ever quite decided who's really supposed to pay for it and
[speaker002:] well that's the thing you know uh unfortunately the ones that currently pay and pay the premiums for health insurance are are paying for the people that don't have health insurance
[speaker001:] which is why people are talking about we ought to just admit it perhaps and then try and somehow subsidize it in a way that's more fair
[speaker002:] yeah I don't think you um
[speaker001:] you have health insurance through your company
[speaker002:] yes I do uh through my company yes but I have been in a situation uh recently where I was laid off from a position as a sales manager of a company and was off work for about a year and my wife developed cancer and we didn't have any insurance
[speaker001:] oh my goodness
[speaker002:] and it was uh
[speaker001:] that must've been horrible
[speaker002:] go to Parkland type situation
[speaker001:] how was your care at Parkland
[speaker002:] uh because it was a life threatening situation it was very good uh as it as it turned out one of the top um people or one of the top doctors in the state that is involved in cancer treatment was at Parkland
[speaker001:] but Camp Parkland is not free either
[speaker002:] no it's not free but uh
[speaker001:] is it affordable
[speaker002:] it's it's a situation that because I didn't have any insurance and I was on unemployment it was paid by the county
[speaker001:] so you did have a good experience
[speaker002:] I had a bad experience as it turned out um I was fortunate that there was Parkland
[speaker001:] is your wife better I hope
[speaker002:] uh no she passed away oh that's all right that happens
[speaker001:] I'm real sorry sure it does happen but it's very sad
[speaker002:] yeah but in any event um I'm in favor of national health
[speaker001:] well so am I actually um I'm a pediatrician and I feel very strongly about um children and um developed very strong feelings about this during our measles epidemic last year
[speaker002:] if I had to vote for it oh is that right um-hum um-hum
[speaker001:] where we certainly proved that we're not doing a very good job with preventive health care among children and particularly the children who need it most so um I'm really quite active in trying to uh uh be proactive at least to for children's issues it's very complex very complicated but um I just strongly believe that all children have a right to immunization glasses hearing aids basic health benefits
[speaker002:] well I when I grew up and I grew up in south central Kansas um we had and my mom worked for the health department the county health department and we had X rays every year we had a dentist come to our school and uh check our teeth once a year at least um we had all our flu shots taken care of our measles mumps rubella and all that other stuff and uh when my children were growing up
[speaker001:] um
[speaker002:] we didn't have that we had to pay for it which I wasn't opposed to paying for it I had the money to pay for it but I'm sure that there were people that don't
[speaker001:] well and the costs of so much has gone up so much the cost of immunizations for example um and just the legal the legal benefits um that has really forced people into doing a lot of things unnecessarily et cetera
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] so well I don't know it's it is interesting in case you didn't know Texas leads the nation in uninsured children thirty one percent of all Texas children
[speaker002:] did not know that
[speaker001:] do not have insurance and are not on Medicaid so uh one out of every three children has nothing to reimburse them for their health care and I work in the children's Parkland system and it's pretty overwhelming to me
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] but um it's pretty hard to be indigent and to be dependent upon indigent health care systems in Dallas county