It’s a bit depressing that many of your commenters are so immature that, instead of addressing the arguments presented in the post, they prefer to make wild statements expressing nothing more than their emotions and their appalling ignorance of basic economics. That’s a sad commentary on our educational system.

I would recommend the referenced article, Moral Health Care vs. “Universal Health Care” by Lin Zinser and Dr. Paul Hsieh to anyone who seriously wants to understand the etiology of this problem. I’m not certain I agree with their solutions, however. I would prefer to see employers and private insurance companies voluntarily depart the system until such time as government does likewise.

Yes, health care and health care plans are expensive. But, so are many other necessities of life like food, clothing, housing and transportation. The obvious solution is that we each have a job that will let us pay these expenses. Otherwise, we must depend on charity. Unfortunately, since the New Deal, we’ve become accustomed to government supporting the non-working parasites on the backs of the real workers by taxing their earnings. Socialized medicine is just another variation of that pattern.

The only bright spot here is that socialized medicine, like the defunct Soviet Union, is unsustainable in the long-run because it flouts economic realities. The uninformed will have only themselves to blame for the pain and suffering they will create if they persist in advancing this scheme.

If George Bush is so against ABORTION then why is he allowing millions of people without money to pay for their healthcare needs DIE?

ANSWER THAT FOR ME!

Now, in 2007 you can have it done for typically less than $1000. Why? Because government isn’t there mucking up and limiting practices or tacking on extra red tape. That’s called free enterprise, baby, and it works to to bring the best price and encourages competition which helps lower the price. Government mandates do the exact opposite.

Health care prices didn’t go up until the government got involved.

Besides, if the US does concede to a national, government run socialized medicine program, where will all the Canadians go to receive good health care?

If by critique you mean meaningless fact out of context, it certainly is. Perhaps you could see how many tests the average Cuban goes through to ensure his health and how many of those Cubans after treatment remain alive. Saying someone spends less on healthcare than us doesn’t say they have “better” healthcare. Do you expect cars that cost less to be better than ones that don’t?

The WHO rating system is not based on better healthcare or patient survival rate, it’s based on nonsensical standards like equal availability and the like. Why do so many Canadians who can afford to jump border for treatment come here? So they can get the terrible service? The best way to scout for objectivity in a source is to use some logic.

Ohh and all the money in the US should be going to doctors because it takes a bit of time in school to get a degree, which costs money and incurs debt, and they save your life. If you don’t reward people who save your life stop expecting your life to be saved. They do not and should not have the responsibility to save your or my life above theirs, since theirs makes my life possible.

That’s actually a scathing critique of the US system. While healthcare in the US is better than Cuba’s, it’s not much better according to the WHO. The US ranks 37 and Cuba ranks 39.

So why is the US system so inefficient? Cuba does not have much money. It’s a third-world country under embargo after all. Where is all the money in the US going?

Ok, emergency services should be provided to people for little or no money, right off the bat. ESPECIALLY if they’re paying for health care already. There are unforseeable events that happen to people all the time and when someone gets hit by a car, or is an accident or having a heart attack is charged simply for the ambulance ride BEFORE they even reach the ER is ridiculous. Of COURSE medical staff should get paid, but for people who go through their lives thinking that they’re covered by their health plans and then get smacked in the face w/ charges for emergency care becuase it wasn’t “pre-approved”? That’s just absurd!

Also, as for socialized medicine in Canada and the UK, talking to exchange students and relatives who’ve used the system had nothing but great things to say about it. Sure Canadians come to the US for operations. The US has made leaps and bounds in the medical field but in terms of emergency medicine and accsess to treatment it’s pretty bad. In Canada and the UK if you need to see a doctor for something you can see them within 3 days. I don’t know where this 18 months thing is coming from. Emergency patients are moved to the frount of the cue and people expecting cosmetic surgery wait a couple of years. Surgery patients are dealt with in a timely manner depending on the severity of their condition, again the worst of the patients rushed to the front of the line. Mother’s are given a minimum of 7 days rest in the hospital after delivery and arent charged a cent for their stay or the treatment of themselves and their infant.

A cousin of mine visiting England forgot her insulin at her hotel while exploring the country side. She went to a local hospital and was seen in 15 minutes and was written a perscription for brand name insulin and was able to pick it up down the street for half of what she normally pays here in the states. I personally believe that a Universal health plan can work if appropriately managed. In Germany, England and Canada, these countries still have private insurance and practices that people opt to use instead. Infact, those people who do don’t even pay the health tax since they don’t use the universal system (as it should be, anyone who doesnt pay Social Securiety shouldn’t receive it). So the quality of health care shouldn’t and most probably wouldn’t be affected. the only thing that will change is availability.

“…i think something like 37th in the latest study by the independent world health organization, keyword there, independent.” You are absolutely correct, we are rated 37th by the world health organization. But I am curious, they cannot be talking about 37th in treatment time since we treat people faster than any other nation, wonder why so many Canadians come here to get operations? It might be because you have to wait around 18 months for a simple eye proceedure that gets done in 2 weeks in the United States even though they are rated higher by the World Health Organization. http://www.onthefencefilms.com/video/deadmeat/ that website will provide a video of some personal stories involving the Canadian health care system and how inferior it is to our system.

“i have a friend who had to pay for an ambulance ride after being hit by a car on his bike, because he didn’t get the ambulance ride pre-approved, cause that is more important than stopping the bleeding.” I wonder if they saved his life before asking him for money. Probably seeing as it’s hard to do paperwork when your bleeding to death. Imagine the nerve of people who save your life than ask you to pay for their saving your life, it’s like their doing a job or something.