With all the debate of late I have heard statements like why shouldn't we have free health care like Canada or England etc. Now these comments come from supposedly educated people who should be able to think for themselves. Do the doctors in these countries work for free? do they get medicine donated by the drug companies ? do they build hospitals for free ? do workers
donate their time to keep these medical facilities operating? The obvious answer is no, somebody has to pay for it so the short answer is there is no such thing as 'free healthcare' anywhere in the world. The next reasonable question should be then where does the money come from? In the case of public health care (AKA socialized medicine) the money comes from the government. So where does the government get the money from? They get it from us, the taxpayers and in the case of England (and other countries as well) the top effective tax rate (if you total them up) is over 50% now I know some of this goes to other government functions but that is double what we currently pay here in the United States which begs the question how good an insurance policy could you have if you were willing to spend 25% of your income on it. But (some of you are saying) I don't make a lot of money so the rich people will pay for my insurance. Now aside from the fact I don't believe anyone should owe you health care no more than they should owe you a car or food or anything else lets just supposed that is fine with me, lets boil that down.
If Walmart (I pick on them because a lot of low income people shop there) has to pay more taxes in the form of payroll and corporate taxes and shipping costs (due to higher tax rates of their employees) do you really think they are going to eat it, no if their operating costs go up 25% then the price of goods in the store goes up 25% Walmart can't, or won't borrow money to cover the difference if they did they would be hopelessly in debt and eventually go bankrupt (also see our government) so there goes your theory of the rich paying for your health care, I call it trickle down poverty.
I will also let you in on a dirty little secret nobody in this country, I repeat NOBODY is without health care, there may be millions who have no insurance but by law everyone who shows up at an emergency room has to be treated. Now I admit the system we had prior to zero-bama was not perfect but in my opinion it was one of the best in the world, why else did people with means travel from all over the world to come here for life saving treatment? So in closing don't insult my good friends in Canada or any other country by telling me, or them, they have free health care, they pay good money for it.
All I have to say about government controlled healthcare is that my Mother in Law had it while living in England, and they do only the bare minuimun to get you better at that time. They don't think about the problem spreading, like cancer.
ReplyDeleteUltimately it killed her because of the poor way it was intially treated in England.
JUGM, I wanted to address the fallacy of the free part but you are correct, having lived in other countries and even now having family members in some of those countries I am well aware of the limitations.
DeleteAnother great stop and think post Duke. I was told way back when that there is no such thing as free. How many folks thought that when our Golfer in Chef got elected their home would be paid for, and on and on.?? Too many folks drank the Kool-aid. A fear I have is Mrs Clinton getting elected and this mess drags on after 2016.
ReplyDeleteRob, good point. I wonder why those who were disappointed about their house payment sill support the looser.
DeleteYOU are a breath of fresh air and rationality. I have stopped going to a lot of blogs now, due to "gangland activity" in comment sections regarding this massacre that is happening. So this was what I needed to read.
ReplyDeleteI knew of the 50% tax rate, and the higher cost of goods and services, but everyone in Canada seems so happy and serene. I've read of gigantic surgeries and the patients not losing their homes or futures.
With prices so outlandish in Canada, and with their high taxes, I wonder what it is about Canadians that to be so peaceful and content. Even the crime rate is low.
(I'd still rather have my right to bear arms though)
Lately there's a constant question mark instead of a lightbulb over my head. lol
You make sense without hostility. Thank you.
Lotta Joy, I can't address the happiness of people in Canada or anywhere else for that matter but I guess you get used to. I will say this though, for some reason you hear more about people in England for example wanting to move to the US as apposed to the other way around so I suspect it has to do with them wanting to keep more of their money. I have heard stories of people coming to the US for surgery because they didn't want to wait for 3 or 4 months. I have never heard of anyone going to Canada to get 'free' health care so I suppose it's not that free.
DeleteYES! I have heard of the long lists of people waiting. Especially in England. It might be "free", but no one has ever said it was GOOD. How horrible.
DeleteI can at least get in to my doctor within a few days. Now, with the way things are going, I wonder if my doctor will even be there when I show up. Will doctors have a choice where accepting this new healthcare is concerned? Or will THAT be a law too.
Things are just SO out of control that even the people are getting out of control. Stress will do that.
Lotta Joy, You are correct, I know they have a lot of people from Muslim countries waiting to get in to England but from the US ? I don't think so much. If there is a few it pales in comparison from those wanting to come here.
DeleteThank you! Well said.
ReplyDeleteAnon, thank you.
DeleteGreat post....you hit the nail directly on the head!!
ReplyDeleteCotton Lady, thank you my friend.
DeleteMost countries with socialized medicine have small militaries and don't do much policing of the world, either.
ReplyDeleteIN fact, most of them depend on the US for their security.
Think about it.
B, Excellent point I had not considered but you are absolutely correct, all of them would need our military except maybe China but they are full blown communist so we know how they afford anything, they make everything property of the state.
DeleteExcellent point! Having talked to folks from Canada, England and Europe, they think we're STUPID to even be thinking about it...
ReplyDeleteOld NFO, agreed, most people who have EXPERIENCED how it works don't like it so much especially if dealing with life and death issues. I know if my wife wants to see a doctor here she can get an appointment many times the same day. For me with the VA (which is close to socialized medicine) an appointment may be over 30 days out.
DeleteWell stated, concise and to the point. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAnon, Thank you very much, glad you stopped by.
ReplyDeleteDear Duke - excellent points in regards to free healthcare. and thank you for mentioning that we in canada, indeed, do pay good money for our healthcare system through our taxes. no, it is not free. but for the majority of canadians, we are very happy with our system. our system is well-integrated and has been around for quite a while. here is an excerpt from wikipedia:
ReplyDelete"Canadians strongly support the health system's public rather than for-profit private basis, and a 2009 poll by Nanos Research found 86.2% of Canadians surveyed supported or strongly supported "public solutions to make our public health care stronger."[9][10] A Strategic Counsel survey found 91% of Canadians prefer their healthcare system instead of a U.S. style system.[11][12] Plus 70% of Canadians rated their system as working either "well" or "very well".[13]"
anyone interested in learning more about the Canadian healthcare system can go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_Canada
i am sure that you can find many canadians who are unhappy with the system but the majority of canadians, as mentioned in the polls above, are quite happy with it. in my community, and sister community, we have many aged people with a variety of illnesses, some major, some minor, and they are very thankful for the care that they receive...for free, except it's not free. canadian taxes pay for it. and as good canadian citizens, we understand why those taxes are necessary.
your friend,
kymber
Kymber, Thanks for commenting, I guess it is what people get used to. I know anyone who needs health care is going to be very thankful for it, the same way if I have an accident in my car I say "glad I had insurance" but it does not change the fact I hate buying auto insurance and I would really be ticked off if the government made me buy car insurance for those who could not be bothered. I happen to believe we have (or had) a good system. Those who wanted to have good care paid for it. Those who were disabled or elderly have Medicare and Medicaid and ANYONE who went into an emergency room, including you if you were here on vacation, would get treatment and most of the time the hospital could not collect a dime. Seemed like a good fair system to me but the government did not control it and that was the key issue to them. They want control.
DeleteDuke - i have to say that i agree with you about the control issue...there really is something fishy about how they are going about this whole obamacare stuff. and i understand why so many americans are leery of it. something just isn't right!
ReplyDeletebut i just wanted to get it out there that our healthcare system has been around for quite a while, it is integrated into our taxes and the majority of us are quite happy with it. i really don't like it when obamacare is compared to the canadian system - they are not alike at all!
thanks buddy! your friend,
kymber