Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: fresc who wrote (77)	1/13/2005 1:53:00 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

It is called single payer because there is only one "payer"; there is no alternative program, such as private health insurance In other words it is a socialist monopoly. It might be a fairly well constructed socialist monopoly as such things go. It's probably staffed by people with more caring and dedication that most socialist monopolies but there is always a downside. If you don't have a real market you either don't have any price signals or any price signals you have will be distorted. In some cases such distorted price signals will result in oversupply of a good or service. In the case of subsidized health care you probably get under supply instead and we certainly do see signs of undersupply in Canada with waiting lists and such. The existence of the medical system in the US does help out Canada. For one thing it provides somewhere for people to go when Canada's system simply will not provide timely high quality service. For another the higher prices for non-generic prescription drugs in the US effectively subsidize Canada's drug prices and esp. the cost of R&D for these drugs. If the US went to a single payer system similar to Canada's there would be no large neighbor available to provide these benefits to the US (or to Canada) Canadians are healthier and live longer than Americans Not by enough to reach an conclusion that their health care system has much to do with this fact. today there are 9.1 deaths in the first year of life per 1000 births in the U.S. and 6.8 in Canada. Do you have any information on how this statistic is measured in Canada? Specifically how births of babies weighing under 1000g are measured? Message 20943791