I'm a physician in South Carolina. I have firsthand experience regarding our broken, wasteful health care system.

    On a daily basis I care for the uninsured who have no jobs (often because of layoffs or illness) and have no money or access to health care providers. These people often come to the emergency departments with minor issues that could be handled simply as an outpatient if there were a place for them to be treated, or they are seen with life-threatening illnesses because they couldn't receive the proper treatment for their chronic illness (i.e. high blood pressure and diabetes) or couldn't receive preventive care and now have untreatable cancer. These people show up where the care is the most expensive because they won't get turned away.

An increasing number of the uninsured are ending up in the nation's emergency rooms. (Photo: Matthew Staver / The New York Times)

    But what I find happening more these days is that these numbers are growing. People often have jobs that don't cover health care, or it's too expensive for the small-business owner to afford (small businesses are paying twice what large businesses pay for the same coverage). People can't afford their medications or even their co-payments for office visits if they are lucky enough to have insurance.

    I believe America should join the rest of the developed world and provide a single-payer system. I left private practice because I spent hours doing paperwork for insurance companies, was on the phone trying to get tests paid for and had to change medications all the time because insurance would not pay for them. The amount of bureaucracy is nothing for patients with Medicare compared with private health insurance companies. Insurance companies have entire departments whose only function is to find ways to deny payment. Conversely, hospitals have entire departments trying to get paid from insurance companies - now that is a waste of precious resources. Nonmedical insurance company staff, not government, stand between the doctor and their patient's care.

    So, why are people afraid to change the health care system? Not only do people fear change (even in a dysfunctional system) but because media is bombarding them with how bad and expensive a public option or single-payer program would be. Who pays for those ads and funds our political leaders? The same companies who are making huge profits on the suffering of people - and I ask you: If our health care system is so great, why are we 17th in the world for infant mortality and 30th in the world for life expectancy?

    I believe our health care system can be cured by taking the profit motive out of the system - like other countries do. This will make it affordable, cheaper and provide access for all. Imagine a country where you can get care without showing your insurance card first.

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    The writer lives in Myrtle Beach.

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