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Re: Five Myths About Health Care Around the World
Old 08-27-2009, 03:43 PM   #7
manasecret
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Default Re: Five Myths About Health Care Around the World

Quote:
Originally Posted by Professor S View Post
Ok, we'll change the argument to "are likely to hurt innovation and increase wait times" instead of "must".
This is exactly my point. You can no longer say definitively that outside examples of healthcare show that socialized medicine/healthcare will do these things. And, not only that, but in fact someone on the other end of the debate could say just as honestly that examples from outside the U.S. show that they "are likely not to hurt innovation and increase wait times." (And just to be clear, the same goes for other such arguments brought up in this article.)

Quote:
Israel is an excellent example of good socialized healthcare working very well, but we also have to realize that Israel is not America in size, scope or citizenship (they have an abundance of doctors who live there for reasons beyond their profession). Thats why I think the greatest arguments against universal health insurance aren't examples from other countries, even though there are plenty of horror stories to share along with victory speeches, but whether or not America has ever been able to competently execute something of this size and scope, or even less so.

The answer is a resounding and obvious "no", but for some reason people will never stop repeating the same mantra of "this time we'll get it right"... "this time we'll get it right"...
This goes back into the heart of the healthcare debate that I'm not armed to argue. I made my point.

Quote:
I'd actually like to ask what people think about "risk pooling" that McCain talked about recently, where he addresses those that can't get insurance for pre-existing conditions by pooling them together and having a government agency help purchase insurance for everyone as a group to help reduce costs. This would help fill the current gap in the uninsured who want coverage, but also not force anyone to get insurance if they don't want it and wouldn't sabotage the free market and/or employer provided care the large majority of Americans currently enjoy.
I believe that Texas has this sort of risk pool or something similar, and I imagine it's not uncommon for some other states. If you're interested in the idea, I suggest you research risk pool in Texas. I have no knowledge about its success or otherwise.
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