The Gov't shouldn't provide ANYTHING to EVERYONE outside of basic security and shit like that.Why stop at healthcare, why not housing, a car etc etc...the truth is, the uninsured access the healthcare system via the emergency room and simply don't pay anything! Look at the income statement of any publicly traded hospital company, they have a line for it and it is a staggering number,what happens is that the rest of us pay for it for them via higher rates simple as that,and PLENTY of unisured people just choose not to buy insurance. I know tons of such people personally,and it is unrelated to their ability to pay.The simple truth is that a scoiety should take care of the destitude elderly and very young with a short safety net for everyone else, after that, take care of yourself.Healthcare is perceived as this holly grail, some inalienable right, we all live lives of different luxury,we drive different cars, live in different houses, buy different camera's,guess what, we aren'tt getting the same quality of healthcare either.
Life vs death seems more important to most people.
People in poor health are a burden on eveerybody.
I'm sure almost everyone would agree that public health measures reduce rather than increase social costs in our society. I think the real argument is about the finer points of these economics. There is probably broad agreement on public health issues and less agreement on which, if any, private health care costs would be handled more effectively as public costs. It's a complex policy issue.
Given the aging population and the way our current health care system works in the us, I expect a real pressure to federalizxe more healthcare expenses.
There seems to be broad agreement in the rest of the world that governments should federalize more healthcare expenses. We should probably look at the history of how successulf that is in other countries.
But if you we look at others countries for sure I guarantee you'll pay 50% and more in taxes and not get ANY of that.Old Europe is living in dream land as well,they can't compete in the world economy and it just gets worse with each passing day. The sun is setting on the once great World powers. Most likely much of the benefits in healthcare in Europe will be gradually rolled back and then eliminated in the the coming years.
"Old" Europe is actually doing reasonably well right now given lots of measures. That doesn't mean that the economic health or lack of it depends completely on their Healthcare Policy. All I said was that we would be well advised to have experts look at their history and give us some good advice as voters on what worked and what did not.
Are there some good websites that measure this sort of stuff?
Let the goverment run the health care system and it will take you 3 to 6 months to get an appoinment to see a doctor.
Asked any Canadian why they come to the U S for health care when they get it for free in Canada.
The advancements in health care in the U S has exceeded all the country's with goverment health care but together.
I have heard the same thing about the Canadian Healthcare System. However, I believe that the Canadians handle routine healthcare isseus much better than we do (birth, well babies & children, STD management, Management of Chronic Diseases, ...). Does anybody have particualrs that tend to confirm or contradict this?
From all the information that I have heard, people who want elective surgery in Canada have the long waits. Basic health care is delivered as need would dictate. I think that it is instructive to look at the percentage on Canadians who live illegally in this country or even care about living here for an extended time, the number is very low given that they share a common, open border. Maybe things are not as hellish there as some descriptions here would lead an uninformed person to believe. Not to say that there are not pockets of desperation in Canada, just as such pockets exist here in the US.
I'll address the example you mentioned - housing.
In fact, the government spends a huge amount of money promoting
home ownership. Just take a look at taxes. Interest payments
on homes are tax deductable. Why? It's not a necessity. I
won't even guess the amount of money that goes into this.
The government pays for lots of things that aren't
"necessary" but are deemed good for one reason or another.
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