Bless you Lisa yes there is more to the poem, I tried to erase it because I did not think that it was clear enough to read and yes I am nearly half Fin. The other is nearly half Irish throw in a little Swede and enough Native American and you get me.:D...... I will try to re do the poem. I have been very busy trying to stay abreast of the main issues, taking stock, and dealing with some ancient personal wounds in my life recently; so much so that I really haven't taken too much time here.

Yet I really think that it is time that these issues be brought to lite and I am grateful that this thread has lasted so long.. I know something about where we have come from having worked in the medical field for eight years in the early eighties and my mom is a retired nurse, my wife worked medical billing which I of course got an earful from that. Some of the things I heard horrified me not to mention the news stories. I think what the for profit hospital corporations have done to a once excellent medical system is completely atrocious in the worst way. They have turned people away for lack of insurance who have died because they did not receive medical care. Appalling. Disastrous. Down right wicked. I see though an attempt to rectify the situation by our government which I have to agree with the rightest may be too expensive.

I also think Mike is right. The proverbial writing is on the wall for the medical insurance companies. The one area that is totally being ignored though is that today 80% of the hospitals are owned for profit. A complete reversal of what it was before medical costs became the issue it is today. 80 % were private or local municipally owned not for profit hospitals.

As a comparison My Mother has been ill over the last several years and had several hospital stays. The second to last stay was in a local Nat. Am. facility, and the personal care she received was head and shoulders over what her most recent stay in a regular hospital. I infer that at the Native American Hospital was not worrying about the cost and the local hospital was. My Mom came home depressed and upset from the last stay. Completely demoralized not to mention the apparently obvious difference in the number of personnel available for cares causing a lower level of attention that could be paid to her I also believe contributed to a longer stay. I heard a couple of disturbing stories which I will not repeat simply because the staff was not to blame and in this day and age of sloughing responsibility off on the nearest scape goat, I intend to spare the nursing staff and angle my ire at the policies of the administration.

I have several other reasons for my want to return to a more private or munciple not for profit system including a recent study that shows a lower death rate in non-profit institutions.

I am probably just thumping my head against a brick wall on this but I feel a sincere need to say these things.