How about an opinion from an insider who's lived on the outside?

IMHO, as a Canadian living in the US, I'd rather live with the problems inherent in the Canadian system, than the problems inherent in the US system.

All the fear-mongering is a bit frustrating, and I think what it really boils down to is that the people stirring it up have learned how to avoid (or haven't encountered) the problems in with the US system. My father-in-law was visiting recently, and one of his biggest complaints was "the government is going to decide who gets cared for based on cost! People with kidney dialysis will be the first to go!" (Naturally, he listens to Rush Limbaugh religiously.) I cheerfully admit to not understanding that viewpoint -- under the current system, the insurance company decides based on cost (insurance companies are well known for dropping coverage for the expensive cases), based purely on realizing profit. I'd rather have the government saying "we can't afford that," than an insurance company saying "that doesn't bring us a profit." To me, the former is economic reality. The latter is... disgusting ethics.

Every time I talk about health care with an American, they inevitable ask "Don't you have to wait?" or "How long was it before you could get an appointment?" It's always interesting to watch their faces when I tell them I've waited longer to see a doctor, and get appointments in the US, than I have for similar care in Canada -- and my dad has had the same experience. Of course, that's not true for everyone.

Personally, I hope for success with the change -- with the unemployment rate as high as it is, people are starting to realize (unlike lectric's sentiment) that health care shouldn't be based on income (hi, here's your pink slip, and now that you have no income, here's an additional $1000/month bill for a health insurance policy), so the country has never been better primed.

However, despite my hopes, I have no expectation that this will ever succeed -- it's too politicized, by which I don't mean "there's a lot of highly charged debate over the value, or the solution," though there is plenty of that. Rather, it's too mired down in the existing US political process, which ignores the good of the people (you know, a government for the people, by the people?) in favour of lobbyists currying favour for their conglomerate backers. The political process needs to be fixed before anything else can be improved.