Well, I do not live in North America, so I’d like to know if the healthcare in USA is as problematic as the defenders of socialized healthcare and welfare state say. If so, is it a consequence of free market or a consequence of state interference?
I have two reports I’d like you to comment. The first is a 2005 report on a study claiming that “Medical bills make up half of bankruptcies: study finds most bankruptcy filers had health insurance”:
The other report is Sick in America, by John Stossel, arguing against the socialized healthcare and showing that healthcare in Canada and other welfare states is not as good as claimed by welfare state defenders. Six parts:
Since I have to pick my wife up from work shortly, I cannot say much. My experience is that there are a few healthcare concerns in the U.S., but it seems to be better than those of socialized places. For instance, I had a friend get in a car wreck. He was a bit out of it, but not unconscious. He was too out of it to deny the use ambulance that arrived, so it took him up to the hospital anyway. He came out with a few bruises and no problems whatsoever–yet he was still slapped with a huge ambulance fee and a fee for the VERY short period of time spent in the hospital. All of this amounted to a few thousand dollars… ouch!
After x amount of time, I believe hospitals waive bills if you are unable to pay them, such as in his case, but I’m unsure as to how this rule really works. Despite this one incident with my friend, I’m sure he would still be better off than paying taxes for others to go to the hospital however often. I am more in support of the methods used by the United States. I cannot really see any advantage to socialized healthcare (unless your best friend is a doctor).
Both socialized healthcare and the semi-socialized, semi-corporatist system in the US aren’t any good. I can’t directly compare the 2, as I only have experience with the American system. I can tell you that the failures of the US system are the result of state interventions. The liscensing requirements of the AMA and the destruction of low-cost fraternal societies are just 2 of the things done by the state that drive up medical costs to ridiculous highs.
Cato.org has a couple detailed “Policy Analysis” papers on the subject. They offer good insight into the practical workings of different health care systems around the world and relevant statistics that demonstrate that the US health care system is far better than is portrayed by the media (sans Stossel).