Tags: Europe, health care, US
The Washington Post ran a piece entitled Five Myths About Health Care in the Rest of the World on Sunday. It’s not an endorsement of any of the five health care plans Democrats are unwisely trying to sell America by any stretch. But it should be taken as a call to arms to anyone who thinks nothing needs to be done, or that following a European model spells the death knell for America.
The following boils the argument down pretty well, IMO:
In many ways, foreign health-care models are not really “foreign” to America, because our crazy-quilt health-care system uses elements of all of them. For Native Americans or veterans, we’re Britain: The government provides health care, funding it through general taxes, and patients get no bills. For people who get insurance through their jobs, we’re Germany: Premiums are split between workers and employers, and private insurance plans pay private doctors and hospitals. For people over 65, we’re Canada: Everyone pays premiums for an insurance plan run by the government, and the public plan pays private doctors and hospitals according to a set fee schedule. And for the tens of millions without insurance coverage, we’re Burundi or Burma: In the world’s poor nations, sick people pay out of pocket for medical care; those who can’t pay stay sick or die.
Our “crazy quilt” system is bloated and inefficient and needs to be changed. If you’re angry about the current plans, don’t just protest, join the conversation and let’s make a plan that works for all of us.
I find it both remarkable and troubling that the article likens the best-working health care subsystem we have to Germany, but all the “reform” efforts on the table seem to be aimed toward UK or Canada.
I think the republican party could steal the health care issue from Obama by putting a French/German/Swiss system on the table. End Medicaid, and probably phase out Medicare over a long time. I think they could probably get the blue dogs onboard and vote it out of the house. Pelosi is under so much pressure to get something done that she’d probably have to let it go. Wouldn’t that be interesting?
Unfortunately, the only plans allowed on the table until this legislation is defeated are Democrat plans, whose agenda has nothing to do with fixing anything. If we can defeat this, public opinion may force them to let us in.
I was just talking about this last night with a few fellow Republicans. As expected, the brainwashed young kid reacted with terror, but I did get some positive response from guy in the local GOP leadership to the idea of the GOP creating their own french/swiss style system and sell it for what it is – a cost saving measure that will cover everybody and be an economic boon to business. Just like Kennedy campaigned against Nixon by beating him at the anti-communism game, the GOP can do the same with health care.