Broken Systems
John Stossel reports today on the British and Canadian socialized health care systems. He finds that, contrary to the assertions of Michael Moore and his fellow travelers, the "free" health care is anything but.
One basic problem with nationalized health care is that it makes medical services seem free. That pushes demand beyond supply. Governments deal with that by limiting what's available.
That's why the British National Health Service recently made the pathetic promise to reduce wait times for hospital care to four months.
The wait to see dentists is so long that some Brits pull their own teeth. Dental tools: pliers and vodka.
One hospital tried to save money by not changing bed sheets every day. British papers report that instead of washing them, nurses were encouraged to just turn them over.
Government rationing of health care in Canada is why when Karen Jepp was about to give birth to quadruplets last month, she was told that all the neonatal units she could go to in Canada were too crowded. She flew to Montana to have the babies.
"People line up for care; some of them die. That's what happens," Canadian doctor David Gratzer, author of The Cure, told "20/20". Gratzer thought the Canadian system was great until he started treating patients. "The more time I spent in the Canadian system, the more I came across people waiting. … You want to see your neurologist because of your stress headache? No problem! You just have to wait six months. You want an MRI? No problem! Free as the air! You just gotta wait six months."
There are quite a few examples. People told that life-saving surgery is "elective" in Canada for example. There is a whole segment of the Canadian travel industry devoted to helping citizens get to the US for treatment. Despite the evidence the systems are failing in countries where socialized medicine is in place, there is still a big push for it here. Because it's "free".
Just wait until you see how much it costs.
Medicine, World news | Gaius Wednesday, 19 September , 2007
