As it was in other presidential campaigns, including the campaigns of Carter and Nixon, the health crisis is a significant issue in this 2008 presidential election.

With the outrageous cost of medical bills, it is extremely stressful -- actually scary -- for Americans who are uninsured.

Both candidates, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain, say they have the answer for those who can't afford soaring health insurance premiums.

In addition to ways they say they can solve the problem, there are always rumblings by some who want complete socialized medicine saying that it works in England and Canada.

Part of McCain's proposal is to replace an income tax break for employees who receive health insurance from employers with a refund of $2,500 for single people and $5,000 for families to purchase coverage.

McCain also says he will ask for the creation of a guaranteed access plan to provide an insurance pool for persons who are medically uninsurable on the individual market.

Obama's plan is to mandate health insurance for children and require employers to offer health insurance or pay a percentage of their payroll into a federal fund to provide coverage. The proposal would provide subsidies to individuals who cannot afford to purchase health insurance.

Professor Jonathon Oberlander, who teaches at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, stated in the New England Medical Journal that both ideas are viewed as sketches rather than finished portraits.

As for socialized medicine, I understand there are two types -- a health care system that the government completely owns and systems that the government only pays.

The nightmare that citizens of Colombia, South America face is the worst health care scenario that can be imagined.

Rosa Garnica-Gentry, who is a physical therapist at Glenburn Home in Linton and was born and raised in South America, said in Colombia there is no Medicare or social security benefits.

"You can work all of your life and have no access to any medical insurance unless you have money to pay privately," Garnica-Gentry explained.

However, if you are working in a specialized job, Garnica-Gentry said some medical services are offered, but the patient has to see a doctor that is recommended by the government.

Furthermore, there is no financial help for a specialist or for medical tests -- even if you would be so lucky as to schedule an appointment.

"Most people get an aspirin for everything," Garnica-Gentry added. "Doctors are given guidelines as to what medication to prescribe, and doctors don't choose what's best for the patient. Most people do not have specialized jobs, so most people have no medical care. The government manages the choice for hospital care."

Garnica-Gentry then added if a patient needs to go to a hospital there is a long wait until a hospital bed is available.

"If you have money, you can probably get medical attention, but if not and you are seriously ill, you probably die before you get attention. Cancer patients often have to wait a year before they see a doctor."

While in Colombia, Garnica-Gentry worked at the largest hospital in a five-state area, and still the patient had to take his/her own linens, clothes, food, and eating utensils.

"It was pathetic," Garnica-Gentry went on to say. "There were no IVs, no bed pans, no nothing."

Even though the United States is a larger and richer county, Rosa says she doesn't think socialized medicine could ever work because technology, medicine and research are so expensive; plus, after doctors attend school for years, they expect to be paid.

"Something has to be done with medical services," Rosa said. "There has to be some way to get it easier."

Like most of us and it seems like most politicians, she doesn't know the answer; however, she does know firsthand the nightmare of socialized medicine offered to Colombians.

Living across from Windsor, Canada for years, I also have heard and have seen personally the pitfalls of Canada's health care system. After being told they would have to wait months for treatment, many citizens of Canada cross the river and enter large medical institutions such as Henry Ford Hospital for heart by-pass surgery and cancer treatment -- and those patients are the few who can afford to pay for the medical treatment from their own pocket.

Due to long waiting lines, British health care continues to by typified by the phrase, "Take a Seat."

Back to what is offered by the two presidential candidates in the 2008 election, which is better?

May we all think carefully before we vote in November, that is if we can make head or tails from either plan.

Jo is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World and can be reached by e-mail at tojo631@sbcglobal.net