Health care

I love having good health care. It's an unspeakable luxury, and yet it is such a basic necessity as well. Because of my employer's policy of providing employees and their families with great care for no cost to the employee, we've been able to visit the doctor as much as we needed without a second thought - and haven't paid a single cent yet. After years of having no health care, limited care, or expensive care - well, not even having a second thought about receiving good care is a major relief.

But you know what? After spending years with no health care, I would gladly lose some of the quality of my current health care to have universal health care in this country. What good is quality when so many people receive little care at all?

I would settle for good, free care for all people under the age of 18 (or 21 - to give young folks a chance to get their feet on the ground). I understand that some people hate giving others a free ride for even the most basic necessities, and don't agree with me that the benefits outweigh the costs. But seriously, people, give the kids health care at least. Don't make someone choose between taking her child to the doctor for a check-up or paying the electric bill, and don't make a child's health suffer for their parent's poverty. I'd like to see people covered through age 21 - buying healthcare in college was a joke for me, even at the low rate of about $550 a quarter.