You might have also wondered why, when you come into a doctor's office, you are handed a pencil and a sheet on a clipboard to enter your information. Why can't the patient type the info directly into a computer? And, why can't your new doctor already have the intimate, if boring, details of your medical history? In some countries the doctors already do. In an excellent piece on health care The Christian Science Monitor also mentioned this and elaborated on how the US is dragging and far behind even what are considered Third World Countries. Your piece brings up the question: which company is going to earn the big bucks for getting the contract to create a unified system? If it ever is done, you can be sure that it will be the company with the most money muscle to lobby for it. And, of course, every big company that is presently ripping off American consumers --- insurance, pharmaceuticals, and so on, will lobby to the death (with money we paid them) to keep us from catching up with the rest of the world. I've lived in Sweden. My wife has lived in Holland. Don't get me started on health care in this United States.

The humble Farmer