We're the only industrialized country without universal health care and it's taking its toll on our life span averages.

The wording of the topic implies that a liberal "plan" is necessary. It is not. Today, we eschew the fascist impulse to allow government to "take over" funding of health care. It is a good instinct. Republicans will and should gravitate toward "free market" oriented solutions. What is health care? Is it health insurance? Is it access to a doctor? When you're sick? When you're well? Hospital? Free clinics? Abortion on demand?

How intrusive into your "health care" do you want the same government that cannot decide how to solve the illegal immigration problem? The war on terror? Unfunded mandates? Bridge maintenance? The tax code? The mortgage crisis? The bridge to nowhere? Whether or not you have the right to a gun? To an abortion? To vote secretly for or against union organization?

What is the US government doing a good job of presently? If you can name one thing, can you name three? Six? In the myriad of tentacles emanating out from Washington, DC? And let's say you can name a handful of tasks the government performs capably, efficiently with a minimum of waste and inefficiency and devoid of corruption. (Good luck) What about when our government runs out of money as it seems to almost weekly. Who decides which of the multi-myriad of programs gets cut? You KNOW who decides. Congress with their 9% approval rating gets to decide. Less than 1 in 10 Americans approve of their decision-making process. Are we getting better at putting good, capable, honest, caring people in charge of such a vital function?

And you want to turn your health care/health insurance system over to them? And you're looking for Obama or McCain to put forth a plan that will make our system better? Has either shown this ability? If so, what were the circumstances and the long-term results?

I don't want the idiots from the DMV running the hospitals!

This is probably one of the most important issues on the agenda today. The cost of health care continues to rise, leaving many people unable to afford health insurance. Those who have insurance, along with their doctors, have to deal with this dysfunctional system of "managed care" and third party providers who act as "gatekeepers". Many of the Presidential candidates are floating reform ideas, some are better than others in general.

However, most of the health care "reforms" will either only make marginal changes to the current system or will only make the problem worse. They all fail to address the fundamental problem: government relies excessively on third party payers. Laws promoting the HMO's came about originally as a means to control the rapidly increasing cost of health care, but this managed care system has only taken control of health care decisions away from the doctor and the patient.

The predominance of third party payers means that there is no real market out there for individual health insurance policies, thus those whose employers cannot offer them insurance either have to pay exorbitant prices or must do without health insurance. Since most providers cater to those with insurance, it is very difficult for those who don't have benefits to find a policy that best fits their needs. The market for health care is very highly distorted and includes hidden costs that are unnecessary and excessive.

The uninsured usually turn to government funded health care, or they just use the local emergency room as their primary care doctor. The result is declining health care for the uninsured and an increased burden on taxpayer funded systems. I think the only way to restore some balance to the system is to essentially return control of health care to the individual. It sounds revolutionary, but the truth is, we need to simplify the health care system, and remove some of those hidden costs. You can do this through a variety of means: the government can provide tax deductions for health care expenses. This cost can be made fully deductible against your wage and income taxes through a few simple changes to the tax code. Health savings accounts (HSAs) are also another idea that's out there. Any American should be able sign up for these HSA's as a means to pay for the cost of health care, or their insurance premiums. Any unused funds that accrue in these accounts can be rolled over through the use of flexible savings accounts, thus lowering the cost of health care for everyone in the long term. Reducing costs will mean that government programs can improve the range and quality of coverage that low income groups receive. The key is reducing third payer costs.

The Healthcare system in the US is about to reach a boiling point. It's not just about the 42+ million without insurance, but the huge bills that come in that we have to pay when we have insurance. Countries with socialized medicine spend less per person, have longer lives, and have lower infant mortality.

Our system is proven itself to be worse than others. It is obvious if a person wants to see. I read here that some think that living in a moble home, driving a used minivan, and having computers so children can be competitive in school is living high on the hog. Why shouldn't a family with the husband and wife both working live that modestly, and deserve healthcare. I'll never understand.

Since my current health care plan is NONE, I'm all ears...

This list item has one thing going for it that all the others lack:

The word "plan".

Here on RIA, we thrive on opinions. But, in the real world, opinions alone aren't enough to make a real leader. Anyone (and everyone) can say that "The current system is bad, it needs to change", but what I want to hear is a reasonable, feasible plan on how to make things work, or at least improve things. And, I might agree with someone on the desired outcome, but I might not agree on how that outcome should be achieved (for example, one can say that they are "for" gaining independence from foriegn oil sources, but might disagree that drilling for oil in Alaska is a good alternative).

It couldn't possibly get any worse than it already is. Something just isn't right when people work in the United States, are American citizens, and can't get the proper health care they need all because they have no insurance.

Update: I am not talking about freeloaders receiving free insurance. I am talking about people who work full time jobs and don't make enough money to buy a good insurance. There should be some kind of help available to these individuals.

As with education, healthcare and access thereto was not a big problem in the US before the federal government got their fingers in the pie, lawyers turned the system into a lottery, and illegal migrants began flooding ER's from coast to coast. The "answer" to this crisis is to get big brother government out of it. If you think the feds will improve our healthcare system, take a look at the job they have done with Social Security, education, and the national debt.

Update: In response to what LadyJesusFan said...

In 2004-2005 I managed a nightclub. One of my employees, a part time waitress/ bartender complained to me constantly because, as a part-timer, she could not get health insurance. She usually went on to say that the parent company should provide free healthcare coverage for all employees. This woman's husband was a contractor who "set" mobile homes, meaning his income was up and down. She and her husband lived in a trailer park. They had three children, two of whom had their own PC in their bedroom. Liz drove an 04 minivan that they were making payments on. Did these people deserve free healthcare so that they could have a brand new minivan, give children their own PC, and have satellite TV for NASCAR events?

I say no.

As a Canadian, I of course will not be voting.

As a former pol, who spent a good deal of time working U.S. campaigns, I have a keen observers interest.

As a result, I've chosen to rate things on this list as how I see them as "trigger" or motivation issues for voters.

Health care has become a steadily more important issue as the mass of baby boomers ages. A candidate who can effectively tap into this mindset could do very well.

And note that the key word in that sentence is "effectively"