The French speaking John Kerry's idea is to "make healthcare affordable and available for everyone" In case you aren't up on your liberal doublespeak, that means, "Universal Healthcare".
One of the most socialized healthcare systems in the world is in France, where unemployment continually hovers at around 12% due partially to the oppressive anti-business system and massive tax burden to pay for gold fillings for everyone, but only after a 9-month wait.
To keep costs down, many hospitals cut corners. Due to lack of any free market competition among health providers, hospitals, and doctors service generally sucks.
Add to that cost cutting measures of 35-hour work weeks and mandatory summer vacations for the civil servant doctors, you have the makings of a mess.
Look what happened last year during a
heat wave in France:
French hospitals could not cope with a repeat of the heat wave that killed almost 15,000 people last summer, a prominent doctor said on Thursday.
Patrick Pelloux, an emergency doctor who led attacks on the government over its handling of the 2003 heat wave, said there were not enough hospital beds or staff available.
An official report blamed the heat-related deaths on poor organization, a lack of communication and key staff being away on holiday.
The government's plan, to be active from June 1 to October 1 each year, includes a new weather and health alert service, a database of people at risk from heat-related illness and a response plan for hospitals and voluntary aid workers.
Health Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said in May a special committee had been set up to ensure emergency units received an extra $600 million set aside over five years. But Pelloux said funding was still insufficient.
"If there is no real willingness to make the public hospitals more dynamic in all sectors, we will again see disasters and important bottlenecks in emergency services," Pelloux said.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Padhraic
The french speaking John Kerry?
What the hell does that mean. I speak 3 languages, does that make me un-american?
Just because the french have'nt discovered air conditioning does'nt prove that affordable healthcare is impossible.
2 - Tom
He speaks french with his brother I believe.
Therefore he is a french speaking candidate, plus he appers to love france so much.
3 - Jim Carruthers
Oh, wait, I know this, it's from a deleted sketch from the last un-funny half hour of Saturday Night Live.
Made up statics and chauvinist slurs don't make you correct (if there was for example a massive blackout like last summer in the US southwest, you'd probably be lucky to get away with 100k deaths).
It's really sad when education and experience are seen as being detrimental to a political career in the US. In most other countries, being able to speak several languages is seen as an advantage.
But keep up the campaign to brand USAians as complete and utter idiots, you're only your worst enemy. You couldn't buy this kind of publicity around the world.
4 - Mark Saleski
Myths & Facts About Single-Payer Universal Health Care
MYTH: It would cost too much money.
FACT: A single-payer universal system would cost no more than we're already spending on health care, according to studies by the Congressional Budget Office, the General Accounting Office (GAO), the Lewin Group, and the Boston University School of Public Health. The GAO estimates if the United States changed to a universal single-payer system, it would save in the short run: $34 billion in insurance overhead and $33 billion in hospital and physician administrative costs. This savings would come from providing timely care to those who would otherwise delay care, thereby becoming sicker and more expensive to treat.
The cost of serving the newly insured would be about $18 billion. The cost of providing additional services to the currently insured-due to elimination of co-pays and deductibles-would be about $46 billion.
MYTH: It is socialized medicine.
FACT: A single-payer universal health plan is not socialized medicine. Under socialized medicine, the government owns the hospitals and clinics. Doctors and nurses are government employees. A single-payer universal health plan preserves private ownership and employment. It has no more in common with socialized medicine than does Medicare. What's unique about a single-payer universal health plan is that all health-care risks are placed in a universal risk pool covering everyone.
MYTH: Americans would pay more.
FACT: Several studies show costs for middle-class Americans would not increase. All but the poorest Americans would pay more income tax, but in most cases the tax would be equal to or less than what they currently pay for health insurance premiums, co-pays and deductibles, which would largely be eliminated. Money to take care of the currently uninsured would come from money saved by eliminating private insurance overhead costs and by spending less on high-tech equipment that duplicates or exceeds what's needed in any geographic region.
MYTH: It would create a huge bureaucracy.
FACT: Experts say the employer-based managed-care system is already a huge bureaucracy. It consumes 9 to 15 cents of every health-care dollar. Medicare, a single-payer plan for seniors, spends only 2 to 3 cents of every dollar on bureaucracy.
MYTH: It would cost employers more, make them less competitive and force them to fire employees.
FACT: Experts say the employer tax would equal but not exceed what employers currently pay for health-care premiums and paperwork/billing overhead created by the current multipayer system.
MYTH: Medicine would be rationed.
FACT: Managed care already rations medicine. A single-payer universal health plan would ration services based on medical necessity. Managed care rations services based on profit. Under single-payer universal health care, no one would be denied care due to pre-existing conditions.
MYTH: Americans would have trouble getting in to see a doctor.
FACT: Canadians, who live in a single-payer system, see their primary care physicians more often than Americans do now. There are more doctors per capita in Canada than there are in the United States. Yet the cost of physician services in Canada is one-third less than it is in the United States. About half the cost savings in Canada comes not from offering less care but by reducing insurance overhead and paperwork. The rest of the savings comes from allocating money to pay for expensive equipment so there is less excess capacity and duplication. Ninety-six percent of Canadians prefer their health-care system to the U.S. model.
MYTH: Patients wouldn't be able to choose their own physician.
FACT: According to experts, a single-payer plan would give patients more choice than they currently have in most cases. The United States is the only developed country heading in the direction of less choice. Other countries are building more choice into their systems.
MYTH: The United States has the best health care in the world.
FACT: The United States has higher infant mortality, higher surgical mortality and lower life expectancy than Canada. The United States has a much lower rate of access to primary care doctors than Canada. Canada has the same acute care bed-to-population ratio as the United States. Patient satisfaction, quality of care and outcome of care in Canada equal or exceed that in the United States, according to the U.S. General Accounting Office. For this lower quality, Americans pay 40 percent per capita more than Canadians do on health care.
MYTH: There would be waiting lists for surgeries and high-tech procedures, which is why Canadians come to the United States to get health services.
FACT: The United States has waiting lists for specialty care, too. Canadians rarely come to the United States for health care. Less than 1 percent of Canada's health budget goes to paying for care Canadians get in the United States. Canada's waiting-list problem stems largely from underfunding, which is being corrected now. Waiting times would likely be no longer in the United States than they are now, because we would still spend much more than other countries do on health care and still have many more specialists and capacity.
MYTH: Physician salaries would be lowered, as would standards for physician training. It would discourage the best and brightest from going into medicine.
FACT: Primary care doctors would see little or no change in their salaries. Some specialists would see a decline. All physicians would be paid more if they work in remote or underserved areas. Education, training and licensing policies are so similar for U.S. and Canadian physicians that their credentials are virtually interchangeable.
MYTH: Canadian physicians are unhappy with their system.
FACT: Nearly two-thirds are either "satisfied" or "very satisfied." About 500 Canadian doctors emigrate to the United States each year-representing about 1 percent of all Canadian doctors. Some return to Canada.
MYTH: U.S. physicians don't want a single-payer universal health plan.
FACT: Despite pervasive negative spin, 57.1 percent of U.S. physicians believe a single-payer system with universal coverage would be the best option for the United States, according to a 1999 New England Journal of Medicine survey.
5 - Jim Carruthers
So, let me get this straight, if you have a system which uses public money to benefit the public, that's bad, but if you have a system which funnels public money to an insurance company which has no obligation whatsoever to the public, that's good?
I can't wait for the explanation of how the executive of the government being appointed by non-elected officials enhances participation by citizens in society.
6 - Mark Saleski
oh yea, the grape-pickin' photo is terrific.
over here we let the free market decide...which means we allow immigrants to pick our fruits and veggies for next to nothing.
god bless america.
7 - Jim Carruthers
Damn, what was I thinking? I've just contaminated a highly-qualified pool of suck-- er, I mean winning candidates for a lucrative marketing plan involving lottery tickets and door to door services.
"Hugs 4 Freedom" Fight terrorism! Our specially attired "All American Freedom Gals" will, using our kits, available at a special introductory rate, go out and sell "special hugs". And you get the profit - you get to Primarily Invest Majority Profit.
8 - Tom
Fact; I really don't give a shit what you think Mark.
Stop quoting pointy heads who claim it will do this or not, but look to countries who have "single payer" systems. It is a big headache which stiffles innovation and leads to lower quality of care.
Why are there 6 month waiting lists to get an MRI in
Canada Jim?
Another term for single payer would be monopoly.
But I guess monopoly is good only when its the Government which has it.
9 - Jim Carruthers
Esqueeze me, but a monopoly is when a company controls all of a particular sector, ie, removes it from the public domain, which is like, everybody else.
So, again, what is so bad about everybody in the public, contributing to a public system, which benefits the public?
Instead of almost everybody in the public contributing to a few insurance companies who keep most of the money, while coming up with more elaborate schemes to not pay the some of the people who contribute?
As an example, dental care isn't provided in Canada. So I had a dentist who tried to run a scam on my insurance company, running all sorts of un-needed procedures, which it turned out the insurance wouldn't pay for, and I ended up paying $600. For stuff I didn't even need. The only winners I see are the insurance companies. It's only corporate welfare.
10 - Jim Carruthers
By the way, Tom, if I interpret your post correctly, only people who are not confused by facts are opposed to public healthcare.
Yep, that's the ticket.
11 - Tom
It's not about facts put forward by someone who never left academia. I look at the countries which offer socialized or "one payer" healthcare. For the most part they can't compete on an economic scale with the United State, and the free market system we have.
From Dr. Walter E. Williams:
The Fraser Institute, a Vancouver, B.C.-based think tank, has done yeoman's work keeping track of Canada's socialized health-care system. It has just come out with its 13th annual waiting-list survey. It shows that the average time a patient waited between referral from a general practitioner to treatment rose from 16.5 weeks in 2001-02 to 17.7 weeks in 2003. Saskatchewan had the longest average waiting time of nearly 30 weeks, while Ontario had the shortest, 14 weeks.
Waiting lists also exist for diagnostic procedures such as computer tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound. Depending on what province and the particular diagnostic procedure, the waiting times can range from two to 24 weeks.
Socialized healthcare does not work.
I don't think it is the government's responsibility to take care of me. Being reliant on someone or something like that is called "slavery"
But I guess if you are incapable of taking care of your family because you don't have any marketable skills or are too lazy, then by all means, promote socialized healthcare Jim.
12 - Tom
As opposed to regular welfare? What about all the people who will lose jobs when the insurance companies are shut down for a monopolistic government healthcare agency which has no competition, no incentive to be cost effective. If they lose money (and they will) they can just raise taxes, with no choice on your own part nor any alternative will be available.
Hell, in Canada it is illegal to pay for your own care.
In 2003, the government of British Columbia enacted Bill 82 which makes it a crime to pay for your own healtcare.
Viva Canada!!
13 - Jim Carruthers
I realize you are just going to rationalize whatever it is you think about the world outside the USA, Tom, but it isn't illegal to pay for your own healthcare. It is illegal to attempt to by-pass the public health-care insurance system. The US insurance companies (not doctors, nurses, etc, -- insurance salesmen) don't like this because it circumvents their racketeering.
Health-care isn't prevented. Insurance company racketeering is avoided. Thankfully, I live in a country where if I get sick, I don't have to worry about falling into indentured servitude to an insurance company.
Good on you for not having to worry about getting sick. But how does lording it over the 20 per cent of the people in your country who have no health care make your life that much better. Or does effective feudalism make you feel good at other people's expense?
14 - Tom
Jim,
You are so far off base, you think having private health insurance is feudalism, but think having the healthcare that the government chooses for you just fine and dandy.
The the past year I didn't have "healthcare", but I still got my perscriptions filled, I still had my cavity filled; I just paid for it myself.
Don't mistake lack of health insurance for lack of healtcare. They are not the same.
I feel sorry people such as yourself who need the government to take care of you. Many people like this are either too lazy or too incompotent to take care of their own family. I truly feel sorry for these people.
I don't want to even discuss this any further. We are going round and round. You hating free market business, while loving big government; I dislke big government while looking favorably on business.
Business creates wealth, big government does not.
15 - RJ
Ah, logic. Thanks, Tom.
Of course, these folks all "died peacefuly in their beds" instead of "from the horrific, indiscrimiate bombing raids of Christian invaders" so I guess we are still the Bad Guys here... :-/
16 - Mark Saleski
yes tom, you don't "give a shit" what i think.
never thought you did.
but your attitude is symptomatic about what is wrong with the united states at this moment in history.
good for you.
17 - RJ
Yeah, the US sucks.
And all people who believe the above should, you know, like, emigrate. Right?
Why live in a country you hate?
18 - Shark
TOM: "But I guess if you are incapable of taking care of your family because you don't have any marketable skills or are too lazy..."
Here we go again:
another implicit GOP Platform from a "Compassionate Conservative" who apparently is completely out of touch with the reality of 45,000,000 or so Americans w/out health care.
And it's the liberals who are "angry".
Feh.
Hope you never lose your health insurance or suffer a short run of bad luck, Tom, 'cause Reality can be a bitch, especially when you're sick.
19 - Shark
PS: Tommy, you get any more pissed and you're gonna bust an aneurysm.
My recommendation: chill with dinner and a nice relaxing movie... say a buffet at a Canadian Scout camp followed by Farenheit 911.
Just tryin' to be helpful...
PS: Avoid the French wine!
20 - Shark
RJ: re. "Why live in a country you hate?"
is much more lyrical, poetic, and downright rhythmic as the ol'
"Love it or Leave it!"
See, you can stand on the shoulders of ignorant rednecks that came before you.
21 - RJ
Even semi-literate buffoons can get hired, FULL-TIME, at 7-11. They won;t make much, but they sure as hell will be offered health benefits.
The same goes for full-time Wal-Mart employees. (And Wal-Mart treats their employees like garbage.)
Or just about anyone who is willing to work full-time.
Sorry. Health coverage is available. Too bad some choose not to take advantage of it...
22 - Shark
RJ, spare me.
I'll just go back and reread your "everyone has ten bucks to spare" diatribe.
Thanks in advance.
23 - RJ
Uh, they do.
Every American can spare ten bucks to contribute to this site.
If they couldn't, they wouldn't be posting here.
QED
24 - bhw
I love it when somebody puts a post up and when people comment on it and provide an alternative point of view, he tells them he doesn't give a shit what they think.
And then tells *them* that *they're* lazy and incompetent.
25 - bhw
It's really sad when education and experience are seen as being detrimental to a political career in the US. In most other countries, being able to speak several languages is seen as an advantage.
I read an article about this in the recent past, Jim. It was about the anti-intellectual thread in American politics, which helps explain how Bush got into office. A good portion of America is more comfortable with a president who doesn't read or think or pursue any intellectual interests.
Also, Sarah Vowell has a great chapter in "The Partly Cloudy Patriot" on how Gore lost the election because he didn't embrace his nerdiness. Great references to Buffy and the nerd threads on that show.