With tempers flaring on the US healthcare reform question, Al Jazeera speaks to two American doctors, on either side of the divide, and digs deeper into the debate.
Although consensus exists on the need to overhaul the healthcare system, healthcare professionals are split on how the basic ideas of US President Barack Obama's plan will affect local residents.
No official legislation has been introduced, but Obama's plan includes an emphasis on preventive care, shifting from paper files to electronic medical records, and a public option insurance plan.
Major questions remain as to how the government would pay for insurance for people now uninsured, and what effects a government option would have on both workers and employers.
Mark Kellen, a physician from Rockford Illinois, told Al Jazeera that the problem with Obama's healthcare plan is that "it's government centred and not patient centred".
Kellen argues that "medical care doesn't need reform, the government needs reform".
Jennifer Lee, a practising ER doctor in Washington DC, told Al Jazeera that Obama's proposal "is absolutely patient centred, it's all about trying to make sure patients can access care and that care is affordable".
Lee says her patients are "literally dying because the healthcare system is so bad".
Here are their views in their own words.
