The health care debate currently taking place in our legislature and the news media touches every American. We are all human beings and therefore share basic health needs. I decided to interview my father to learn more about this debate as he has a rather unique perspective on the issue. My father is sixty-two years old; American citizen for twenty years and legal resident for over thirty years. He is from Colombia and still has many family members there and comes to visit him two or more times a year. She works for the state of North Carolina as a Spanish teacher for adults in the community college system. Thanks to his current job and his life experience, he is able to talk about the health situation of two very different countries. My father has lived on both sides of the coverage debate. In Colombia, many of the rural poor do not view health insurance as anything more than a little money or extra goods to give to the doctor in case of illness. One story he told was about a trip where he took my mother to meet his family and she was shocked to see a chicken in the doctor's office. He later explained to her that the woman with the chicken would pay the doctor with it for his treatment. He believes this less formal payment and billing system is far superior to the current US system of copays and deductibles and HMO and Gold Optical Care options (and other insurance nonsense) even though it is rather primitive by US standards (as highlighted from my mother surprise). He is currently covered by the state employee health plan and pays extra for a higher level of coverage, as well as coverage for his dependents (specifically me). He felt it was very important to compare how doctors are chosen in America versus La...... middle of paper... not being insured. My parents have always worked to keep us covered and have ensured that my future insurance is taken care of, at least to the point where I stop depending on them financially. So the more complicated side of American healthcare isn't really visible to me. I have never passed up a visit to the doctor for a serious problem because I couldn't pay, nor have I gone more than a year or two without regular checkups and dental visits. I believe an important aspect of the problem is the isolation of each level of healthcare. Those who receive it are uninformed of the problems facing those who cannot afford it, and those who cannot afford it are often misinformed about what they could or should get. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so preventive medicine must be less classist, since it is the most efficient side of medicine..