It’s still kind of hard to believe that there are so many uninsured individuals in America. Over time, a lot of folks begin to wonder who is truly at fault. The health care system in the States isn’t as great as it should be or as we would like it to be. Access to affordable health care is decreasing each day and those who have pre-existing health conditions give up hope of ever finding a plan that will approve them or one that will give them affordable rates. There are people in other countries living with a universal health care system and it seems to be working rather well; in fact, dollar for dollar, some countries outperform the U.S. by 500% or more.

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photo credit: Dashu Pagla

Imagine constructing a human being synthesized completely through science—a seemingly supernatural fabrication of life. You may think Frankenstein. You may visualize Iron Man. But it’s called bionics.

The field of bionics doesn’t necessarily create entire human beings, but rather constructs body parts for better human functionality. People have been losing body parts and use of body parts since the beginning of time. Non-functioning limbs have been replaced with plastic, wood and even steel.

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For over a decade, pharmacists have been advertising their products directly to consumers. There are laws that require drug ads to have proper disclaimers about the risks of their products within the ad; not many are complying with these rules.

There are attempts being made to extend the six-month moratorium to two years. The purpose of the six-month waiting period is to allow some time for physicians to become familiar with the new drugs. Many pharmaceutical companies do not abide by this rule because of the fear of falling behind in competition. You may notice that there are usually multiple ads for different drugs that promise the same thing.

In result to incompliance with the moratorium and placing improper disclaimers in ads and on the drugs themselves have put people’s lives at risk. Representative Bart Stupak of Michigan is one of the individuals concerned about misleading drug ads. It gets a little more personal for him because of what recently happened with his 83-year-old father. Stupak’s father was diagnosed with having low red blood cell counts. He later saw a Procrit drug ad on television that targeted elders with anemia, proclaiming to help liven them up (those with anemia tend to feel tired all of the time) – ads even showed before and after results of seniors who use the drug – dramatized of course.

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All through the month of December, Sylvia tried to ignore her slowly-worsening cough and chest congestion. Although she worked more than forty hours a week at two part time jobs, she had no health insurance and couldn’t afford a doctor’s visit. Her cold would get better on its own, she reassured herself.

It didn’t. She was delirious by the time friends finally took her to the emergency room on New Year’s Eve. The doctors diagnosed pneumonia. Three weeks later, she died of adult respiratory distress syndrome. Would universal healthcare have saved her life? You decide.

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Barack Obama’s Health Care Policy

Barack Obama’s plan for better health care in America is to provide quality, affordable and portable coverage for all. He plans to make available a new national health plan to all U.S. citizens, which will include the self-employed and small businesses. Some of the features his plan include:

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