German doctor denied permanent residency in Australia because his son has Down syndrome

You're a moron. Just because a lot of doctors don't want to move to the outback means poor people shouldn't have health coverage in the USA?

Socialized health care does not discriminate like this; the select people within the German government are. What they are doing is awful and will be overturned, I’m sure.

In a healthcare system where the Provincial or State Government officiates the healthcare system, it is the >peoplepeople

This is opposed to a healthcare system ruled by for-profit HMOs that frequently deny and delay life-saving surgery and medications to clients for no other reason than protect their bottom line. $$$

Chew on this; The World Health Organization has listed America as 37th in the world in terms of health care. Many European nations are higher. France is #1 and they implement a truly socialized healthcare system.

It is disgusting that in America, a country that promotes itself as being the most powerful and wealthy, citizens are forced to chose between life-saving surgery for their child or keeping a roof over their head; that they must forgo over-the-counter aspirin let alone afford reasonably priced prescription drugs.

Obama is not suggesting Socialized Health Care, by the way. That is a scare-tactic tossed at you by Republicans, many of whom are so deeply in bed with the HMOs that there is no telling where one starts and the other ends. Obama's proposed healthcare reform is more akin to Canada’s, which implements a balanced mix of socialized services, subsidised services, and privatized services. And we are well above America in terms of healthcare, according to the World Health Organization.

In Ontario Canada, where no parent must choose between dinner or life-saving medication, I pay less taxes than many American’s do. Look it up.

But you know, what really bothers me about comments like Ms. McGinty’s is that they are not directed at the healthcare system itself; they are meant to shame innocent, hard-working, tax-paying, law-abiding Americans who may find themselves in situations beyond their control and desperately needed help.

I am reminded of an interview I watched on 60-minutes. A man who lost his wife to cancer shortly after the birth of their third child struggled to raised his family alone. His eldest child was just 12. Then he was diagnosed with MS. He was soon forced to leave the job he had held for years and to accept MediCare coverage. However, in a bid to save money, his State slashed 10,000 people from the program – including him. With no way to pay for medication, and no hope of getting better, he was literally left abandoned. The show ended he had no idea how he was going to feed his children that night.

There but for the Grace of God, “Reformed Chick”, goes YOU.

Hey, Your Name, thanks for keeping it classy with the name calling. Jerk.

Michelle, your outrage is appropriate, but the idea that this occurred only because Australia has national health care isn't.

We don't have national health care, and we aren't going to adopt anything like the Australia plan if we ever do. But what of an would-be American immigrant with a Down's syndrome child? Even in the USA today, a child or adult with Down's syndrome or any other developmental disability would only be admitted with a medical waiver that indicates that this person would be able to understand the oath of allegiance he or she would make to the United States.

It may be about the cost of health care in Australia, but that same child would not necessarily be admitted to the USA as it stands now, either. Complain for the right reason.

Even in the USA today, a child or adult with Down's syndrome or any other developmental disability would only be admitted with a medical waiver that indicates that this person would be able to understand the oath of allegiance he or she would make to the United States.

Ummm, yes. Wow.

Especially since I work with a group of mentally impaired people - in the three years I have worked on campus, I've worked with three students - from West Africa, Serbia, and Russia. All immigrants, all here with their families and none of them would be able to explain the meaning of the oath of allegiance. One of them - maybe - if very well coached ahead of time (he is a person with autism and can memorize pretty much anything.)