Changes

There are several different ways of paying for health care, including private insurance, government-supplied insurance, [[single payer]] [[health insurance]] or [[health savings accounts]].

There are several different ways of paying for health care, including private insurance, government-supplied insurance, [[single payer]] [[health insurance]] or [[health savings accounts]].

The [[United States]] has a mixture of public and private insurance programs. [http://city-journal.org/html/17_3_canadian_healthcare.html] Additionally, some hospitals provide free care to those who cannot pay (usually they bill you, and if you don't pay they write off the debt).

The [[United States]] has a mixture of public and private insurance programs. [http://city-journal.org/html/17_3_canadian_healthcare.html] Additionally, some hospitals provide effectively provide free care to those who cannot pay because of a federal law, EMTALA, mandating emergency care without regard of ability to pay. However, this law is abused by illegal immigrants, damages the credit profiles of the patients, is not cost effective (most ER visits cost upwards of a $1000), is a drain on hospitals' finances, and increases the overall costs of hospital visits for those who do pay.

[[Massachusetts]] enacted something close to '''universal health care''', and some suggest it has resulted in the problem of long waiting lines for care, though there have not been any comprehensive statistical studies to date comparing wait times in Massachusetts compared to other states.  In the case of one physician, she does not have an opening for a routine physical for more than a year into the future.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/05/us/05doctors.html?_r=1&ex=1208232000&en=edd47716a3c98fbf&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin</ref>  Residents of [[Massachusetts]] are required to purchase insurance or else be penalized for not having it.

[[Massachusetts]] enacted something close to '''universal health care'''.  Some suggest it has resulted in the problem of long waiting lines for care, though there have not been any comprehensive statistical studies to date comparing wait times in Massachusetts compared to other states.  In the case of one physician, she does not have an opening for a routine physical for more than a year into the future.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/05/us/05doctors.html?_r=1&ex=1208232000&en=edd47716a3c98fbf&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin</ref>  Residents of [[Massachusetts]] are required to purchase insurance or else be penalized for not having it.  One of the benefits of the [[Massachusetts]] plan, which was devised by [[Mitt Romney]], is that a free market solution was created while ensuring that even the sickest of residents can get access to health care and without creating additional government bureaucracy via a "public option".

==Ways to Pay for Universal Health Care==

==Ways to Pay for Universal Health Care==