Just fwd'ing a post I received.... All comments pro or con should have equal voice! - - - Subj: health insurance Date: 2/10/02 12:40:28 PM Eastern Standard Time From: (michael posner) To: great topic and letter! my group is a relatively small private pediatric practice with physicians and nurse practitioners. all "professionals" in the group have full medical coverage for themselves and families, and the the hourly folks get the equivalent of a coverage for a single adult which they can apply to their own family coverage. we also provide medical care and medication samples for the children of our employees, but this of little consequence for hospital, lab, xray or consultations. our hourly wage is right up there with the local averages, but our physician salaries are below average. pediatric practices seem trapped in the opposing forces of the desire to restrain payment for services- our local blues pay nurse practitioners 80% of physician charges for identical services- and rising insurance rates. the obvious and only solution is a universal health insurance system organized at the national level, independent of working status. employers should not control the levels of health care available to their workers, and the unemployed should not be at the mercy of public whim. unless we are willing to give up our entrepreneurial prerogative , the uninsured will always be with us, like the poor. if you think this note would contribute to the mailing list debate, feel free to forward it, but i did want you to know how important your letter was. michael