Jeff Hoard wonders why Americans are suspicious of Socialized Medicine. This article for the Heritage Foundation by Kevin Fleming may help him understand. (The Executive Summary of Fleming's heavily footnoted piece is here). Based in part on an analysis of the British and Canadian experiences, Fleming describes the ten things one can expect from a single-payer health system.
The first is reduced quality of care. For example, only three of 29 countries studied by the OECD had fewer practicing physicians than Britain. And in a study of cancer survival rates in 17 countries, Britain ranked near the bottom in lung cancer, colon cancer, and breast cancer survival. Britain has fewer medical oncologists than any country in Western Europe.
The second is periodic funding crises. Providing "free" medical care increases demand for it. When the government responds by restricting spending, as it has in Britain, patient demand far outstrips health care supply. As Fleming shows, this has been the pattern under Britain's single-payer system. Indeed, Britain has underinvested in health care during the past 30 years compared to the European average.
The third is politically driven inequalities. As Fleming documents, Canada has a three-tiered system. The wealthy jump queues by going to private clinics or to the U.S. for rapid treatment. The second tier consists of the well-informed and the aggressive, who push their way to the front of the line. This leaves behind the elderly, the poor, and the disenfranchised. Similarly, a 2002 investigation showed that in Britain more than 10,000 private-pay patients were given preference over National Health Service patients in Britain's best hospitals.
The fourth is labor strikes. Strikes are common in state-operated enterprises. The health care industry has proven to be no exception. CBC News reports that Canadians have "come to expect [strikes] as part of the negotiating process between doctors and the government." In the past three years, Canada has experienced major health care related work stoppages in New Brunswick, British Columbia, and Ontario.
The fifth is personnel shortages. According to Fleming, Canada has a serious shortage of physicians such that 18 percent of Canadians have trouble finding a doctor. Canada has 2.1 physicians per 1,000 people, compared to an OECD average of 2.8.
The sixth is outdated facilities and medical equipment. In government-run industries, equipment purchasing and technology investments are driven by politics. Fleming shows the adverse consequences that have resulted from this reality in Britain and Canada. For example, according to the president of the Canadian Association of Radiologists, much of the country's diagnostic equipment "is so outdated it would not be used by radiologists in the U.S."
The seventh is waiting times. This is topic Michael Moore didn't want to discuss. Waiting times in Canada and Britain are notoriously long. In Canada, for example, the average wait time between general practitioner referral and specialty consultation is 17.7 weeks.
The eighth is signifcant variations in patient care based on region and economic status. This, of course, is a major problem with health care in the U.S. But Fleming shows that it exists to a substantial degree under single-payer systems, as well.
The ninth is financial waste. In 2001, Britian reportedly lost 20 percent of its total spending on its national health care system due to "waste, fraud, and inefficiency." Britain now has more administrators than consultants in the system.
The tenth is loss of personal liberty. Personal freedom in the health care context means that patients can choose their treatments and which doctors will provide them. Under Socialized Medicine, a government official makes these choices. Pressure also arises for government officials to impose behavioral decisions on individuals in order to keep health care costs down. Americans tend to be quite suspicious of giving the state this kind of power, particularly in the life and death context of health care.
In sum, as the U.S. grapples with the issue of health care reform, there are very good reasons to eschew Socialized Medicine.
Reader Comments ( Page 7 of 15)
91. We could fix it all tomorrow by simply outlawing LOBBYISTS or at least severely limit their numbers and banning them for the floor of the House and Senate and by putting term limits on all who serve in Congress! DONE!
The Founding Fathers never imagined someone making Confressional service a life long career. They envisioned many, many Americans sitting in Congress and viewed it as almost compulsory public service. If they saw how Congress has deteriorated into a gang of Corporate Whores, they'd begin another REVOLUTION!!!
OUTLAW LOBBYING ON THE FLOOR OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE AND MAKE PUBLIC ALL MEETINGS, AND PERKS HANDED TO OUR REPRESENTATIVES.
Bobo at 12:53PM on Jun 25th 2007
92. Health care in america sucks big time!!!
tori at 12:52PM on Jun 25th 2007
93. Health Care in america sucks big time!The health care industry is a disgrace.A mad profit driven cartel is what it is!
tori at 12:53PM on Jun 25th 2007
94. WELL WHAT DID WE ALL THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN ONCE WE ALLOWED THE CRAWFORD AWOL COWARD TO TAKE CONTROL?
I ANYONE OUT THERE SURPRISED?
YOU TAP A HILLBILLY TO RUN THE PLACE AND IT WILL SMELL TO HIGH HEAVEN IN NO TIME!
Bobo at 12:57PM on Jun 25th 2007
95. Every one of these points regarding problems with a single payer system pales to one point. MANY TENS OF THOUSANDS DON'T HAVE ANY HEALTH INSURANCE AT ALL. Anything is better then what we have now. I have NOTHING. ZERO. If I have a minor accident, I have to go to the hospital emergency room and that costs much more to the taxpayers than a simple doctor visit. If I get can't get preventive screening and I get cancer that can't be treated, I cant work, I go on welfare and that's going to cost taxpayers more money. Desperate people do desperate things when their life is in jeapordy....if I have to steal and cheat a credit card companiy (many people do) to get treatments to save my life ... well that's the hidden cost of the US system,
JR at 12:59PM on Jun 25th 2007
96. Don’t you just love it when the neo-cons use words like Communist and Socialist when describing liberal Democrats but the first thing George W. AOWL did after taking office in 2000 was to prevent Medicare from negotiating drug prices. One of the cornerstones of Capitalism is the ability of the buyer to haggle with the seller to get the best price. Yet the first thing the Crawford Coward did was to strip that right away letting the drug companies set the price unchallenged. Imagine the next time you go to buy a car and the seller tells you how to shell out and you don’t have a choice but to obey. And these neo-clowns call themselves Capitalists…HA!!! And let us not forget Vice President War Deferments NO-BID CONTRACTS to his former company. I’m sure there were scores of companies in this country drooling over those contracts and who were willing to bid for them which would have forced Halliburton to streamline its profit structure saving you and I millions on tax dollars. But no…these neo-Capitalists from the right skipped right over the bidding process and handed Halliburton billions in no-bid, no capitalist contracts to WAR DEFERMENT BOY’s former company.
GOVERNMNET BACKED BUSINESSES?
And these neo-cowards have the audacity to call Liberals COMMUNISTS!!!
Bobo at 1:20PM on Jun 25th 2007
97. What a bunch of ill informed liberals...
Before you whine about Socialized medicine take a look at the VA Health Care. We already have socialized medicine and its an abomination !
You wait 6 months to see a specialist
You wait 2 months for an appointment
Years for an operation
You get only the "cheapest" not the most effective medications.
The doctors and nurses are the bottom of the pond as VA wages are the lowest. When your too incompetent to make it in the private sector...you go to the VA.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR, AND FOR GOD SAKES....LOOK AROUND AND DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE YOU RUIN THE BEST MEDICAL CARE ON THE PLANET.
TOM at 1:12PM on Jun 25th 2007
98. What an asshole moore is!
robert at 1:17PM on Jun 25th 2007
99. The best healthcare system on the planet TOM?
Who told y'all that 'yer' Pre-Z-erdint?
Sorry Tommy Boy we're number 37 on the "Best Healthcare System In The World" list...and falling fast.
Bobo at 1:20PM on Jun 25th 2007
100. Be careful what you wish for. Make a trip to canada and look at the second level of VERY HIGH taxes for every thing you buy. With their model you will pay far more than you do today for mediocre care.
jcancan at 1:22PM on Jun 25th 2007
101. I'm sure that those that wrote not in favor of socialized medicine are those with insurance. Probably paid for by someone else. Some kind of medical care is better than nothing. They can afford to be judgemental. Why not ask just those that are not insured and see if they want socialized medicine or not?
Jeanne at 1:25PM on Jun 25th 2007
102. Where does the money come form? The Defense budget of course. They get 1/2 trillion a year to develop weapons way, way, way too complex and expensive to sustain. As if we require super cruise stealth fighters to beat the Taliban or Al Qaeda. Come on...let's just ease off shelling out billions if not trillions to the MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX money pit for a while.
Half of the money we spent on George W. AWOL's disastrous Iraq War, some 1 trillion dollars could have funded Social Security until somewhere 'round 2050. OR we could have used that money to replace every single public school in the United States! The money is there it’s just that it has been habitually gobbled up by Lockheed, Northrop Grumman and others for so many years; they think it’s theirs to begin with. We have to let our representatives know THEY WORK FOR US NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!!!
Bobo at 1:33PM on Jun 25th 2007
103. Analogy: Suppose your child was starving and you had no money for food. Would you argue that you wouldn't feed him/her Hamburger Helper because it didn't have vegetables in it? My husband and I don't have health care insurance -- we can't afford it, not ANY of it, yet some schmuck who's fully insured is going to tell us that we shouldn't have universal health care in this country, the only "developed" country in the world not to have it, because it won't cover colon cancer surgery???? Don't those lames realize that universal health care coverage is a preventive program?? Ever been to Holland? If you sneeze, you can walk into a hospital and get a handkerchief free of charge. If a tourist falls down a flight of stairs and break both legs, s/he gets all all the care at no cost! All we have here is a universal screwing and financial bankruptcy by "the system" giving it to those of us who are paying taxes for illegal wars, the loss of our Constituional rights, poor education, hoarding of oil depletion allowance funds, etc. ad nausium! Go sell your foolish arguements to someone stupid enough to believe anything!
Lauren McBride at 1:53PM on Jun 25th 2007
104. They probably already HAVE a cure for cancer and AIDS, but they don't want us to have it, because they are making BILLIONS of dollars TREATING you for it. Why CURE you of it?
Why cure us? They'll lose money! at 1:53PM on Jun 25th 2007
105. Those "issues" stated against existing socialized medicine plans all can be fixed. Aren't Americans better? We will devize a better plan. We will fix those "issues". And remember this most important fact: we will no longer have the private healthcare industry consistantly attempting to harm are plan by insisting on always being there with their immoral profits. Can the CEOs for starters.
GEORGE HUNT at 1:56PM on Jun 25th 2007