Me too.  Wishes for her continued health William. 

Most people I know try to make the right dietary choices and get some exercise.

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Brad Krawchuk wrote: EXACTLY!!! Healthcare should NEVER be about profit, it should be about helping people to get well!

But how can you take profit out of the picture?  Are you saying that people in the medical field (doctors, nurses, therapists, researchers, etc.) should not be allowed to improve their earnings or their standard of living through increased performance or excellence in their field?

Or should medical and healthcare-related degrees and certifications be free of charge, with no tuition charged by educational institutions who offer these types of degrees and certifications?

The mere desire to pursue a medical career must be prefaced by the educational pursuit, which results in educational expeses that must be repaid by the individual.  Entering the medical career field must involve compensation and benefits that will allow for repayment of those educational expenses AND the ability to earn a decent standard of living in terms of wages.

The institutions that provide healthcare services must pay these professionals those wages required to live and repay their educational costs, AND they must also bring in enough money to cover their basic operating costs.  Unless all of this is done under a not-for-profit umbrella, then profits have to figure in somewhere.  Add it all up, and that's the cost of healthcare.

It's not that the medical professionals should not be paid for their work - no one suggests that. Even in "socialized" nations, doctors are paid well.

It's the insurance companies that should be non-profit. What medical service are they providing us? None. They're helping us pay for the medical service. They are just bankers, basically. They play no medical role.

And by the way - many health care organizations are run as not-for-profit. Both the ones I work for were, or at least one part is - the hospitals will be not-for-profit and the clinics will be for-profit. (erm, or vicey-versa. I always forget which one is which..!)

But where do you draw the line?  This is a capitalist nation, founded and built on the notion of private enterprise.  Should banks, as you compare insurance companies to, be non-profit?  Grocery stores?  Other insurance companies that provide home or auto insurance?  You can only go so far with that line of thinking before you land in Socialist territory. 

I'm not saying that's a bad thing, or criticizing those that have made the suggestions.  In fact, in my opinion, socialism has a lot to offer.  But that's an unpopular opinion in this country and one that is likely to get a lot of opposition.  And the logistics ain't easy, since all aspects of this capitalist economy are so delicately intertwined. 

My sister is an RN and the hospital she works at is non-profit. Of course insurance companies should pay their employees. To say otherwise would be idiotic. I don't even have a problem with them making a profit. But a person's health and well-being should not be a lower priority than your profit. Name another industry that puts its needs before that of it's customers. But insurance does, and they get away with it.

Before this health care was passed, an insurance company could have still refused to cover my wife's medicine, stating it was a pre-existing condition. Hopefully that's over with. When I graduate, get a job, and have insurance again that is.

EXACTLY!!! Healthcare should NEVER be about profit, it should be about helping people to get well!

I want my doctor to make alot of money. My neurologist worked her way through school at considerable expense and all kinds of personal sacrifices. She has earned the right to make money. Just because she makes money does not mean she does not help alot of people. I have epilepsy. My neurologist, Dr. Sharon Farber of Chattanooga.TN, has made my life infinitely better. Thanks to her and the evil profit driven pharmaceutical industry I don't spend all day flopping on the floor, banging my head and pissing all over myself. Not a pretty picture. I spent every second of everyday wondering when or where I would have my next siezure and if this was the one that would finally kill me or perminatly harm me in someway. Because of her treatments I haven't gotten a new scar on my head in over two years. You can't understand how big of a deal that is to me. None of you that don't have epilepsy can understand for a second how much my life was in shambles before Dr.Farber helped me. So I don't begrudge her a penny of what she has earned. She earned money and helped my quality of life.  She's also a comic book geek.

On the subject of insuracne companies and profit ...

Health care coverage doesn't really need the profit incentive. It's not like it's a hard sell for people that they need healthcare. The sole point is whether it's affordable.

Being a medical professional requires hard work, dedication and a lot of intellectual potential. Using money as an incentive there is effective and works for the common good.  

The problem is that for the insurance companies profit comes from creating a gap between what is paid in and what is paid out. That gap translates to human lives.

With private insurance you're placing the heavy moral burden of performing medical triage on accountants who are ultimately responsible to shareholders.

With government financed healthcare, the moral responsibility for healthcare is assumed by the people who elect their representatives to maintain or alter  those standards. Which means that one either qadopts physician recommended standards or one has to answer for it at election time, and the people have a real chance of changing policy.

How would you change the mind of a corporation?