The "mandatory checkup" threads make me ask "Will you ever be able to trust the government?"

[MindPilot]

Putting aside all the parsing of Edwards' words and trying to figure out what he *really* meant, I think the crux of the issue has little and nothing to do with Edwards. It has to do with governmental power and unlimited intrusion into our private lives.

The reason I cringe at the suggestion of a government-mandated regular trip to the doctor is the data-collection potential. Quite simply the past few years have proven to me that the government at almost every level cannot be trusted. Virtually every agency seems to range from merely incompetent to flat-out criminal. Whether it's the VA losing my information on a stolen laptop or the TSA bumbling about taking my nail clippers in the name of security, it seems like nothing gets done right.

Of course private industry is not immune, but a least an inept HMO doesn't have the power of law behind it; I can reasonably expect what I tell my Kaiser doctor will not be handed over to law enforcement. I can see that required checkup easily morphing into a drug test, a look into my sexual practices, maybe even a little chat about my "spirituality" with the appropriate treatments for my "illness" simply because they can.

Don't get me wrong, I still think single-payer is the only solution, but I want to see some really heavy-duty privacy protection in place. This is one of the issues the candidates supporting single-payer are going to have to address to both the right and the left and so far it looks like there are more questions than answers.

The Bush administration has totally destroyed whatever trust I had that the government will do the right thing for individuals. My "Faith in America" is severely damaged and I doubt if that can ever be completely restored.


How do you feel?

Edit speeling & tyypoz

[truedelphi]

1. The will of many of the people is for single payer

Most of us desiring a huge change in the nation's health policies are not at all interrested in making something madatory.

If someone doesn't give a damn about their health, so be it. But why make up some weirdness that could well end up taking more liberties away.

We need a way for the average person in their forties and fifties to obtain health insurance for themselves as many of us in that age group are not allowed to buy in - due to pre-existing conditions.

[peacetalksforall]

2. Same thoughts. These people, if they give us perpetual martial law,

will pick up where Hitler left off in the automation of lists of names. You go left. You go right.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

3. And the answer of course is...

NO!!

Positions with power attract those who desire power.

Such people are rarely to be trusted, their agenda is more personal power.

[jody]

4. In the UK “Lose weight and win 'health mile' rewards, pledge Tories”

Lose weight and win 'health mile' rewards, pledge Tories

Millions of people could be offered "Health Miles Cards" under Tory plans to tackle obesity, cancer and heart disease.

Patients would gain points by losing weight, giving up smoking, receiving immunisations or attending health screening programmes.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Patients who continue to live unhealthy lifestyles could be denied some NHS treatments under the Conservative plans.

"It is inconsistent with the concept of the responsible citizen to imagine that it is realistic for citizens, having paid their taxes, to expect that the state will underwrite the health implications of any lifestyle decision they choose to make," they say.