Healthcare

No one should have to go without adequate emergency and preventative healthcare. Those who are happy with their present system of health insurance should not have to change. i.e. we don't need for the government to take over all health insurance and have the so called universal health care socialized medicine program suggested by some. If more regulation is required for current HMO's and insurance companies then appropriate laws should be passed. Those that can afford insurance should be required to obtain it. (just like auto insurance).
The current law requires that emergency care be provided to everyone regardless of their financial situation. This is a very inefficient and expensive system and is causing some emergency rooms to close because they can't afford to treat all those who show up without insurance. Preventative care is non existent for many poor people. Individual counties need to work with the state to decide how best to provide effective/efficient healthcare for the poor. Some counties are experimenting with mobil treatment and preventative care facilities to try and head off the need to go to emergency rooms for minor problems. This experiment should be encouraged.
Next time a minimum wage increase is proposed we should study the possibility of having part of the increase go into some kind of a group health insurance plan that small businesses could use for their minimum wage employees.
Insuring children will be the least cost segment of the population to have fully covered so we should initially focus our efforts there.
When illegal immigrants show up at the hospital the law requires that they must be treated but they should be deported for any followup treatment.