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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KyrosL who wrote (49635)	6/9/2004 2:19:23 PM
From: longnshort	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793670

What health care system discovers the most new drugs and treatments??

To: KyrosL who wrote (49635)	6/9/2004 3:47:55 PM
From: aladin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793670

KL, I am well aware of the many anecdotes about socialized medical systems versus the US. Of course, there are countless other anecdotes about uninsured dying form lack of health care within view of US hospitals This is a facile argument. It assumes all anecdotes are equal. Its like saying the US tortured some Iraqi's so we are equivalent to Saddam, but it ignores the multiple orders of magnitude in the difference between the two populations. The poor in America are covered under Medicaid and the old under Medicare. These systems are roughly analogous to the Canadian system and have similar problems. Uncovered are the working poor, illegal immigrants and stupid people who can afford health care, but choose not to buy it. Its a flip and very idiotic argument to push socialized medicine as a complete answer, or to say everything is fine and nothing needs to change. Drugs are not covered in Canada, and even though they are cheaper many Canadians have to make difficult choices, just as Americans do - remember unemployment is much higher and salaries are lower (its 14.2% where my mom lives). In Canada most of the savings come from rationing and simplified paperwork. You may choose to ignore it, but countries with socialized medicine do not keep records on people dying while waiting for treatment. Some countries with socialized medicine do not consider certain treatment programs that can be costly. Some European countries choose not to let Spina Bifida children live, since they will be a drain on the public purse. Its no co-incidence that there is a large overlap in socialized medicine activists and euthanasia activists - it’s just cost-effective. What we really need, and no one talks about, is mandatory insurance and pools to facilitate cost-sharing for small employers (who could not get affordable rates otherwise). John