The joy of socialized medicine
August 5th, 2005 byAccording to the Times of London, a young British man is being forced to fly to India in order to get decent health care. Suffering from debilitating pain after a fall, he was told that it would be 17 weeks before he could get an evaluation and at least nine months before he could get surgery. So, they are on the plane to New Delhi. Indian entrepreneurs believe that this kind of escape from socialized medicine will be a growth market for them — that “medical tourism” will net then 1.4 billion British pounds in the next few years.
Update: It’s not all that different in Canada. Socialized medicine works great for people who don’t need it — it does a fair job with preventive medicine, public health, etc. It’s only when you get sick that it falls apart.
Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
August 5th, 2005 at 10:45 am
It bothers me that so many Merkins can’t afford quality health care, so I have been thinking our system could use a major overhaul…but if all that’s going to happen is everyone ends up with crap care, then of course that would be worse.
August 5th, 2005 at 11:12 am
17 weeks for eval? What? All we have is Kaiser, the local equivalant of socialized medicine, and I’d be bent out of shape if I had to wait more than three hours.
Thing is, quality med care, like housing, sufficient food and decent clothes, are NOT rights, but personal goals, to attain which you make yourself productive to society. Confusion over that causes so much pain and enables truly stunning amounts of sloth, ill discipline and art students.
August 17th, 2005 at 1:00 pm
I understand that a recent court decision in one of the provinces provides that private practice
can now compete with socialized medicine there. Lots of folks will be happy if that happens.
August 17th, 2005 at 1:00 pm
#3: I meant to add the country: Canada!