[speaker001:] uh I don't know do you want to start
[speaker002:] well I haven't uh I haven't thought a lot about government government universal health care I've uh uh worked for a you know private company that that provides uh health insurance although I you know they're they're like many are are increasingly working on uh cost cutting things such that at this point I'm not very satisfied with the kind of things that they're doing they gone to
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] network doctors which doesn't include our uh doctors and uh only certain hospitals well
[speaker001:] hm
[speaker002:] network hospitals where they will uh same deal as the doctors that they will pay a higher percentage and pay more of the costs with if you use their particular ones that they've negotiated with but uh
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] uh I don't like the uh seems to me that we're getting that that's kind of going towards the the socialized medicine in terms of of not having a choice in where where or when you want to have have your health care uh without the government being involved it's just a private form of it but the same kinds of of drawbacks I think uh uh what about you what what's your situation as far as
[speaker001:] um-hum yeah well um I'm a graduate student and so I get health care through the school um so I'm for health care purposes I'm a a state employee so we have the state employees union
[speaker002:] okay um-hum
[speaker001:] um and we have our choice of like twenty different plans with you know twenty different companies that operate in the state um and you know I'm on Blue Cross Blue Shield uh I guess it's uh comprehensive um and you know I end up I'm paying like five dollars a month for health care coverage you know um and then I pay another five dollars for dental um
[speaker002:] hm um-hum
[speaker001:] so you know for someone who's in a huge union like uh the you know all state employees it it you know
[speaker002:] yeah yeah
[speaker001:] it's kind of the issue is kind of moot but I look at my parents my father's um self employed he's an attorney um and right now I mean it's just him and two secretaries and he pays out uh
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] what is it forty eight hundred dollars a month for health care for the family and and the two uh secretaries you know which is yeah it's just it's extraordinary you know um
[speaker002:] amazing yeah yeah
[speaker001:] and so you know I look at my end of it and things aren't too bad but you know I look at at my father's side of things and they're horrible you know and I hear a lot of horror stories from other people too
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] um you know that they have to deal with horrible um you know PPOs or HMOs or something like that you know where you can't choose your own doctor and and you know
[speaker002:] um-hum um-hum and and uh you know it it uh uh the company I work for is big big enough that they can that they've got clout but I you know feel guilty and resent a little bit the fact that that for instance you people like your father that just leaves them worse off cause the the health care providers end up making up what what uh my employer doesn't pay them uh by charging more for uh
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] other people you know so that that that doesn't seem to me to be a fair thing either and uh from
[speaker001:] exactly yeah no
[speaker002:] from what I hear Canada has a has a really a a pretty good system in terms of of universal government health uh insurance depending on who you listen to why there may or may not be longer waits than here for some elective surgeries but but uh
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] in terms of the per person health care that they spend it's it's on the order of half as much uh as the as the per capita average in the United States I think and and very nearly comparable service and I you know I'm I'm willing to accept some some limits in terms of I think it's Oregon that just gone through a uh passed a state uh health insurance scheme where they had a commission draw up a very uh
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] you know very detailed and stringent priority list of what uh of of the uh different procedures and the and their costs
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and prioritized in terms of the of the cost effectiveness and then just went down the list and said okay here's the cutoff point if it you're below this point then it then the the odds of it doing you any good versus the costs are just not enough to be um effective and we'll uh we won't pay for those things and uh you know I'm I'm not
[speaker001:] hm interesting