re: #156 austin_blue

Is the citizenry as whole better off with the system in place? If so, the Hawaii and Louisiana systems should be looked at and the parts that work incorporated into a National system. No one said it was going to be free. You have to balance cost over the improvement of the polity’s quality of life.

And keep in mind, the rest of the civilized world has, in general, better care overall *and* spends significantly less per person than we do.

I’d keep in mind HI’s uniqueness and LA’s recent uniqueness with regards to federal dollars flowing into post Katrina LA. Also the relative populations of both states are very small.

Really, what parts ‘work’ that need to be incorporated into a National system? It wasn’t really clear in the article, just generally ‘hey, it’s cheap and it works’. From there to say that the ‘rest of the civilized world is, in general better overall and spends significantly less per person’ is a very specious and vague statement.