Ihave a hunch I'm going to be spitting into the wind here, but someone's got to make this point before we completely bankrupt this country trying to provide the best health care in the world to every American citizen 24 hours a day.

"Someone" who's not connected to the federal government, the health insurance industry, the various medical fields, the pharmaceutical industry and lobbies representing any of the above.

An average person without an agenda -- that would be me.

First of all, we're already, with almost no exceptions, providing health care services in this country that are equal to or better than you'll find anywhere else on the planet.

Day in, day out. Month after month, year after year. And it gets better all the time.

If I were sick, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

Is it less expensive elsewhere? Perhaps. Until you start adding up the taxes that pay for it in systems of socialized medicine or universal health care -- those in Canada, Great Britain, Finland, Spain, Cuba and Israel for example.

And then let's talk availability of health care in those countries. Who gets to decide who gets what care and when? In every case, the government. And those decisions are too often made on the basis of age and cost.

Let's understand one thing -- no one, and I mean no one, in this country goes without health care if they truly need it. And Johnny on the spot.

Check out emergency rooms in every city in America if you doubt that. They're filled

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with people who don't have health insurance, but find themselves in need of health care. They don't get turned away. Heck, we're even providing health care to people who aren't American citizens.

The issue in this country -- if we're being honest -- is many Americans want the best health care money can buy, but they don't want to have to pay for it.

What kind of dream world is that?

So the problem isn't that Americans don't have access to health care, but that not all Americans have health insurance to pay for it. And free, if they can get it.

All I'm saying is let's be sure we understand the problem.

I'm an average guy. Sixty years of age. Decent health, but far from perfect, thanks to good habits and bad, good genes and bad, good environment and bad, good luck and bad. I'm probably better off than some folks, worse off than others. I could live to be 100 or die next week. Who knows?

For most of my adult life, I've been fortunate to have been covered by health insurance. Sometimes very good, but usually average at best. And there were times when I had no health insurance coverage at all.

But there's never been a time when I didn't have the luxury of health care when I needed it.

For many years, my family physician has not participated in the health insurance system that requires doctors to cut their fees to treat patients. My doctor's an old-fashioned fellow -- he refused. I don't blame him. So when I see my doctor, I pay the bill out of my own pocket -- last week, it was $65. I don't get reimbursed later, either.

Here's what I've learned about myself: If I don't have insurance, but need to see a doctor, I go. I either pay on the spot or make arrangements to pay. But I don't go as often as I might if someone else were picking up the tab. I go once a year for an annual checkup. I go a couple other times a year when I'm sick ... really sick.

In other words, I manage my health care, which is a darned sight better than having my federal government manage it.

This is just my opinion, but I'm thinking the three biggest problems with our health care system in this country have nothing to do with availability -- it's the health insurance industry, the cost of health care and the participation in the process by the federal government.

What do you think would happen if, on July 1, no one in this country had health insurance -- that includes everyone working in the federal government and members of Congress, who have the best health insurance plan in the universe?

I'll tell you -- supply and demand would kick in. In no time at all, fewer people would be going to see their doctors (less demand) unless they were really sick. So doctors and other health care professionals would see fewer patients. Pharmacies would fill fewer prescriptions. Within a month or so, prices would start tumbling down.

Less demand and more supply means lower prices. More demand and less supply means higher prices.

In my scenario, fewer patients mean fewer dollars in the till. Health care professionals and hospitals have bills to pay, too. So they'd either charge less or go out of business. I guarantee you, health care providers and pharmaceutical companies would feel differently about their pricing structures if they knew the health insurance industry was no longer their backbone.

Same goes for patients.

So the answer isn't getting the federal government involved in health care -- more than it already is. Less would be better.

We already have too many patients, too many hospitals, too many health care professionals and too many insurance companies relying on that formula, and in the process health care has become more costly.

And the way we're going, that's only going to get worse.

Columns by Larry A. Hicks, Dispatch columnist, run Mon days, Wednesdays and Fri days. E-mail: lhicks@yorkdispatch.com.