KU> MS>    You're comparing apples and T-bone.  This isn't even comparing 
KU> appl
KU> MS>and oranges.
KU> MS>    HMOs aren't monopolies.  Policyholders that don't like the 
KU> rationin
KU> MS>are free to spend their own money (at their own cost) getting care 
KU> from
KU> MS>doctor they want, without waiting lines like Canada, without care 
KU> limit
KU> MS>like England not paying for dialysis for those over a certain age. 
KU>  HMO
KU> MS>cannot even force you to stay a customer...you are free to seek 
KU> another
KU> MS>where you will not be in a HMO as part of workplace health care 
KU> coverag
KU> MS>and you then will not be paying for the HMO.
KU> 
KU> And employers are REQUIRED by law to offer a number of different
KU> types of programs. (BTW: this law was originally passed to make sure 
KU> HMOs 
KU> were offered. I would have to look it up again, but I think this was 
KU> passed
KU> during Nixon's time in office.
    Many employers, including most small businesses, don't offer _any_ health 
coverage.
    Fortune 500 companies with unionized workplaces are finding who pays how 
much for what kind of health care to be a bigger bone of contention than wage 
issues.
    Many workplace health plans didn't even offer HMO-type coverage until 5 
years ago.  Generally, it's the employer who wants to force it on the workers 
as a way of cutting costs.
KU> MS>    Canadians and Englishmen are not free to quit paying the 
KU> national 
KU> MS>health-care system.  Pres. Hillary wanted you jailed if you tried 
KU> to av
KU> MS>waiting lines by paying a doctor at your own expense.  The 
KU> government i
KU> MS>exactly what no HMO can be: a monopoly that you cannot leave, 
KU> except by
KU> MS>emigration!
KU> 
KU> They can come to the US if they want to pay for it..
    Which does happen.
    A friend knew a Swedish woman who visited the U.S. at her own expense to 
avoid the year-long waiting list for cataract surgery.
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