Mike Hunter wrote:

> The stupidity of the high Medicare rates is, if I were a member of the corps
> under 65, the corps would NOT charge me or my HMO a dine. Since I am of 65
> and they did NOT bill the HMO they would be charged with Medicare fraud.
> Medicare IS DEFINITELY one of the primary reasons for our high medical care
> cost in the US and for the reasons stated previously

I wonder why it has to be that way.

Here in the UK we have the NHS which provides the insurance, the
surgeries, the doctors/nurses, and the hospitals all at once. Since the
private companies and the private doctors/hospitals all have to compete
with the basic level of care set by the NHS, their pricing structures
reflect this and private insurance is quite cheap here.

The health service in the USA appears to be a big scam with the
insurers, the HMOs and - yes - the doctors who prescribe all kinds of
wonder drugs for small ailments - all in on it. I'd definitely agree
that a good private hospital will be cleaner and more comfortable than
the average hospital in the UK. But you're paying over the odds for it.
Our hospitals here are not hotel-like in their luxury, and I certainly
won't pretend they're perfect; we might wait a few weeks longer for
surgery, but the population as a whole is generally healthier. It
shouldn't be beyond the gift of the USA, a nation far more powerful and
richer than the UK, to figure this out ?