Basic health care for all.

        Personally, I think that all American citizens should have some form of basic health care coverage, regardless of their income. As it stands currently, all hospitals, both public and privately funded, are required by law to administer treatment to all patients in the event of an emergency, regardless of the patient's insurance status or ability to provide financial recompensation. In addition, publicly funded hospitals are also required by law to treat their patients even in non-emergency situations without regard to their ability to pay. However, private hospitals are not held to the same legalities as public hospitals, and can refuse to treat a patient who does not have medical insurance, or even evict the patient from the hospital once emergency treatment is no longer necessary. This leaves patients without insurance with serious, if often non-fatal, diseases and medical conditions that are left untreated due to the expense of the corrective medical procedures. Indeed, hospital bills can create immense financial strain on uninsured patients. In many instances, hospitals have resorted to filing lawsuits against their patients, placing liens on their houses or garnishing their wages. Many of the citizens who lack insurance do so simply because they lack the ability to pay for it, and these measures of collection cause them to become even more destitute. Meanwhile, the state of Texas alone pays 1.35 million dollars annually for the dialysis treatments of its prison inmates. If we can pay for the treatments of convicted criminals, then surely we can afford some measure of treatment for our less than fortunate.