If you are confused about health care reform and the misinformation campaign clouding the real issues and needs of the majority of Americans, I strongly suggest you read the book "The Healing of America" by T.R. Reid to get the facts. Reid took several years to visit and gather information from the doctors, hospitals and health ministries of the largest, richest industrial democracies in the world in a quest to find the facts and truth about successful health care in those countries.

He details health care systems in France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada, Taiwan and Switzerland. He groups all countries' health care systems into four similar models for easy understanding.

When we hear the inaccurate trumpeting from those entrenched in our for-profit health care providers and insurance companies who state "we have the best health care in the world" or call reform "socialized medicine" or a "government takeover," you will find the facts to counter these claims in this book. Most national health care systems are not "socialized." They provide high quality care for all equally at a reasonable cost using private doctors, private hospitals and private insurance plans.

We are ranked 54th of 191 countries by the World Health Organization rating of cost, choice and health results. The top 20 have longer life expectancy, lower infant mortality, better recovery rates from disease and spend far less than the U.S. does.

Switzerland recently revamped its system from one entrenched with influential insurance companies, hospitals and drug companies, despite political and economic resistance, to a national universal one using private nonprofit insurance deducted from payroll, passed by the people in a national referendum. It is fair to all and is saving them compared to their old system.

There are inadequacies in many others' health care systems, but they do not leave people without health care or one step away from financial ruin.

More than 20,000 Americans die in the prime of their life each year from medical problems that could be treated because insurance companies deny them coverage or they can't afford to see a doctor. Hundreds of thousands of Americans go bankrupt each year because of medical bills. That doesn't happen in any other developed country. This is because of a morally wrong decision our country has made thus far. The right to health care for all equally is as important as the right to education, safety, liberty, clean air and water.