I'm an American who has been living and working in Germany for 25 years! I've been an asthmatic since childhood. It was always a struggle for my parents to get help for me when I had an asthma attack and can barely breathe! As I got older I was able to get health insurance through my employer, but whenever I lost a job I would also lose my health insurance! When I went to Germany I was suprised how easy the whole health insurance system was. Rich or poor, employed or unemployed, young and old; everyone was insured and had a simple card to use whenever one needed to go to a doctor or to the hospital. Germany has probably the oldest functioning health insurance system in the world - it's origins go back to the age of Bismarck in the 1880s. Yes, taxes are higher to help pay for the system but nobody really complains about it. Is it perfect? No, nothing is. But in the end everybody is satisfied with it, regardless of what political party one favors. I only wish that the U.S. would learn some lessons from the German health insurance system.