Comments from Facebook:

Why don't we start by not giving away free health care to non-citizens and taking care of citizens first.

We should also try to find out why emergency rooms can charge more for medications. But I guess it sounds more sensible to force people against their will to purchase an insurance policy.

James Rademacher

Health care coverage does not necessarily equal medical treatment. Ask anyone on Medicare how easy it is to find a doctor willing to accept a reimbursement lower than their actual costs.

Jan Holzner

Health care reform should have first focused on five primary cost factors: fraud, tort reform, billing, insurance and drug prices.

Health care fraud is said to cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Only politicians would add trillions of dollars to a health care system that is leaking money, without fixing the leaks first.

Tort insurance is quoted as 2.4% of the overall health care cost, an estimated $55.6 billion per year. Seems quite logical that to reduce costs generated by mandatory malpractice insurance, review boards need to be set up in each state. Texas has done this with great success.

Billing hassles are quoted as 8% of the overall health care cost. With an intelligent database, there would not be this cost. Prescription drugs cost $320 billion in 2011. Americans should demand the right to obtain our prescription drugs from the least expensive, legitimate pharmaceutical source.

Buzz Mills

Even second-tier countries have universal health care, and at least you'd have the peace of mind of knowing you have health coverage no matter what, instead of fattening some congressman's wallet, or paying for a bridge that never gets built.

Come on people, this is supposed to be the smartest and most industrialized country in the world.

Geno Boyd

Letter to the editor:

Republicans have become the consummate negative force in American politics. Florida Gov. Rick Scott has said he will not implement the state health insurance exchanges mandated in the Affordable Care Act. In other words, one politician's crazed ideology will keep millions of his state's citizens from receiving mandated health care. House Speaker John Boehner says no tax hikes to fix "fiscal cliff." Boehner is putting the Republican anti-tax jihad ahead of the well-being of America. Do-nothing Republicans are still alive and well.

Ron Lowe; Nevada City, Calif.