Would a national health plan be a help to your business? Government insurance that would cover you, your family, and employees?

Health insurance is one of the hardest things in my life since my husband died and I lost his corporate policy. Now I'm self-insured and I constantly live in fear of being canceled or having something wrong with me that they won't cover. I'm struggling to pay $425 a month with a $5,000 deductible. That's the hardest part of being self-employed. I work to pay for my health insurance. And there's no guarantee: I'm coming up for renewal and they will probably raise it another $60 a month. I only have one employee with the same problem. The others either have husbands with jobs, or they are teachers and have insurance through that job. I would love to have a government-run policy. I was behind Hilary Clinton full bore when she wanted to get this going. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would be better than things are now.

That's a tough question. I understand both sides of the argument. But I am in favor of government-run health care in some form. It's so expensive. I have my business and I can do what I want to do, but I also have employees, and we try to do what we can for them. I look at the artists that consign to us, and I think what a hard life they're taking on. But society needs artists. Imagine what it would be like if everyone had to work for a bank because that was the only way to be covered. I'm not afraid of paying taxes as long as I'm getting services for the taxes I'm paying. It works in Canada and England, and would be a benefit for the American people. There are going to be problems, but you don't want to not do it at all just because of that. It's just a basic right. I hope something gets worked out soon.

I would like to see a more socialized system, like the ones they have in Canada and England. It's very tough on a small business. I'm all for a government health plan of some sort. If you want to keep good people, you've got to give them a lot of perks. Not only do I offer health insurance, I also offer a medical savings account. If they don't touch it, it goes into their retirement, but if one of my employees has some illness and can't afford to pay for treatment, the money is there. It would save our business a lot of money if the government took over all of this. Then again, if I didn't have to pay for health insurance I'd have to do something else, like offer profit sharing in order to keep a good employee. So it might not save me that much after all.

I don't favor a government controlled medical care system because it seems that whenever a guaranteed "income" is instituted, incentive and quality disappear. I believe that for a country to be strong in medical technology and research, free enterprise must exist. I do believe, however, that the government needs to institute a national health insurance plan with premiums based on income. I also believe that there should be a reasonable ceiling set for certain procedures that insurance would pay. In this way, if a wealthy businessman wants to visit a doctor whose fees are higher because of his credentials, then the businessman can pay the difference between the insurance coverage and what the doctor charges. This way, those who aren't well-off would not be penalized, and could get the medical attention they need.