re: people like Tom
For starters, the 45 million number is crap. If you whittle that down to actual citizens who don't qualify for existing government programs, and want insurance but haven't been able to get it for at least a year, the number is about 12 to 15 million. Even then, that number is about insurance, not access to medical care. My wife's hospital has homeless people getting top care. It's what hospitals and doctors do.
If the Democrats were trying to come up with a way to help those who are seriously falling through the cracks--about five percent of America's population--instead of making a grab for control of the entire health care industry, this would be a different discussion.