Bequest (as published 9/7)

Lately, at health care demonstrations, signs reading, "Health care is a civil right," have been appearing. The sentiment expressed is just that -- a mawkish hope with no basis in fact.

What all American citizens and documented aliens actually do have is the right to get a job to earn the money to purchase health care services and/or health insurance for themselves and their families. A form of insurance called Medicare is available to retirees who, during their working years, paid into the fund. Part A of Medicare pays 80% of a retiree's doctor bills. Part B covers most of the cost of hospitalization, if the retiree pays a monthly premium of almost $100. Part B is optional, but it seems worth the cost.

Meanwhile, there is a threat that Medicare will run out of funding in the near future. Yet, the Democrat administration wants to institute something similar to it for everyone. . . except themselves, of course, whose coverage is even better. Where will that money be coming from? Perhaps the late Teddy Kennedy, who had been busy for years sponsoring legislation which took money away from those who worked, and gave it to those who didn't, might have left his sizeable personal fortune to the U.S. treasury in one final act of conspicuous altruism.