We all know the old adage: there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Yet our government seems to think that if they just repeat “free healthcare” enough, people will sign up for it.
Do we need to be more efficient healthcare? Yup. For sure.
Is the government the way to create efficiency? You tell me.
How long does it take you at the DMV when all you need is to renew your driver’s license? How much was the United States Postal Service in the red last fiscal year? How much does the government spend on overhead versus programs? Adjusted for inflation, we spend twice as much on public schools as we did in the 1970s with a higher drop out rate and no improvement in overall education results.
I have yet to meet anyone who sincerely thinks that the government is the paragon of efficiency. People these days tend to think that if something needs to be done, the government should do it. If the government is a poor parent for the 50% of kids in this country whose dastardly fathers walk out on them and their moms, it will make a much worse doctor than those we already have.
Let's be honest: the United States Postal Service is in the red, FedEx turns a profit, kids at private schools and those homeschooled consistently have higher scores than public school children. What Kool-Aid did we drink to believe that the government would actually be better for the healthcare than private industry?
When my parents were in their early twenties they lived in Norway – a socialist nation. My father needed a root canal, I believe it was, so he made an appointment and showed up at the dentist.
About halfway through the procedure, the dentist office closed. It was 4 pm and time to go home. They told my father to go home and come back in the morning.
Without giving my dad a painkiller to tide him over to the next day, they shooed him out the door so they could ski home and knit.
So home my dad went – with a half-drilled-out nerve in one of his molars. My mom said my dad couldn’t sit still that entire night he was in so much pain.
Never mind the fact that the list of words I have lined up to call those “doctors” who didn’t give a care about my father’s well-being – that’s not exactly how I want healthcare to run here in the states.
When I had my all four of my wisdom teeth removed two years ago, it was a breeze. I didn’t feel a thing. My doctor didn’t kick me out even though her practice technically closed at 6 pm and she got a late start. In fact, I chalk it up to my doctor’s brilliance that when I couldn’t keep my painkillers down, I was pain-free after surgery taking only Tylenol!
My doctor is actually motivated to be the best oral surgeon she can be because of the free market healthcare. She has competition. Unlike the heartless jerks who operated on my dad all those years ago.
So Mr. President, while you’re taking the time to enlighten all of us on the truth of the healthcare bill and how we aren’t going to turn into Norway in the 1970s, why don’t you point to the chapter and verse? The Bible is also about 1,017 pages and people misconstrue that all day every day.
We can read even if we continually elect officials who choose not to
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6 comments:
The government isn't able to do anything well or inexpensively. There are functions of government that we leave to government because of the need for security or exclusivity. However they are all horribly expensive.
There is a huge difference between the concepts of EQUAL OPPORTUNITY and EQUAL OUTCOME. Equal outcome means you have dropped everyone to the same outcome - no need to work hard. Close the dentist office at 4. Everyone is a prole.
Equal Opportunity means that irrespective of the conditions of your birth, you have the OPPORTUNITY to make something of yourself. We can all agree that is the American Dream. Where Equal Outcome is the vision Marx had.
*Standing Ovation* Brava! Brava! :o)
You have a perspective on socialized medicine that few Americans have. Not many of our people travel, and even fewer have encounters with true socialized medicine. By the time they realize the errors of their ways, our health care system will be destroyed irreparably.
I hope your message can get out and people can learn before it is too late.
I lived for quite a few years in the UK, and the thought of having Socialized medicine here puts me into a cold sweat.
It isn't even a political thing. It's also the fear that we are about to undermine the most extensive network of health care anywhere on the planet.
Great blog.
"so they could ski home and knit" about put me away.
Great writing.
Really scary times, huh?
So glad I found your blog.
I wish you the very best with hit and will be back!
I've used national healthcare in two nations, Japan (where I lived for a year) and Canada (while on vacation). HEre is what I saw that bothered me. I think Japan's system and Canada's are good for basic care that many poor people don't get because they fall between the cracks. That being said, what I also saw, especially in Japan, is they lacked specialists for the dental procedure I needed, because there is no incentive to go to school longer or get certified because the pay is the same. No good.
That being said, the system I like is Switzerland. They have private insurance which is heavily regulated and subsidized. They are able to control costs (so is Japan).
What annoys me is the demagoguery involved in this. Opponets to healthcare reform tell horror stories about rural Canada or the UK as if every system is the same and all are bad. The reality is that there are as many healthcare systems as political systems (maybe more so). The only person in the media I have seen investigating these other systems is Lou DObbs of all people. He has looked at the health care systems of at least 20 nations on his show over the last few months.It is interesting also that Lou Dobbs has found that Brits and Germans are more unhappy with their health care than Americans. On the other hand the Japanese, Dutch, Danish are far more happy with their health care than Americans and they spend less on it (GDP per capita) than America.
Check out this article...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124958049241511735.html
WSJ talks about how France has to reform their system because they have not been able to control costs..blah blah.
The article also shows a graph of rising health care costs for the UK (highest), then the US, then France, and by far the lowest, Japan. They never explain why Japan is so much lower. I lived in japan and used the system, they live longer than us, lower child death rate, etc. The only thing they seem to have more of is stomach cancer (my guess mercury in sushi) and I think breast cancer deaths. I didn't see a lot of sick crippled people in Tokyo? So why do conservatives only focus on the UK and Canada? Asians have different organs or something?
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