An undertow of the current health care debate has been the suspicion that working Americans will be forced to cover the cost of health care for deadbeats who decline to work and pay for their own. I thought it would be interesting to look, state by state, at just how many people 16 are actually in the work force as defined by the census bureau, i.e., working outside of the home or actively looking.

This post is really targeted to the self-employed and non-insured among you. (You lucky still-employed workers with health benefits, you're excused for now.) I just want to offer this interesting op-ed piece by Chicago-based health care writer J. Duncan Moore, Jr. as food for thought, because he gives good reasons for why it's not worth having health insurance -- and how it's possible to profit without it.

I dropped $25 at Walgreens on a flu shot last week, and wasn't amused for even a second. Sitting amid shelves of vitamins and adult incontinence products, I was unaware of other options until I read a story about seniors at Rachel's Gentlemen's Club near Orlando, Fla., who were receiving their shots free. I'll bet they never even noticed the needle go in.

This recession has led many adults to postpone trips to the dentist, both for themselves and their children. During the ferocious debate on health reform, meanwhile, dental care has largely been shunted to the sidelines. It's treated as separate -- and unequal-- to general medical care, says Oral Health America, an advocacy and education organization that has called for dental coverage for all Americans.

PriceDoc.com started in Seattle in April and is set to go national in November, allowing people to name their price for medical, dental, vision and other healthcare services.

Thousands of Americans have found themselves with a cancelled health insurance policy or a denied claim. Follow these three steps to make sure you have health insurance when you need it most.

One of the most difficult parts of losing a job and becoming an unintentional freelancer is losing health benefits. Elance, a site that matches freelancers to clients, is sponsoring a contest in which the winner gets his or her health insurance paid for one year, up to $10,000.

Got health care? In this American recession, probably not, especially if you're included in the 10% unemployment rate. And this flu season is shaping up to be über-nasty.