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

To: gg cox who wrote (6106)	2/13/2009 12:14:37 PM
From: TimF	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

I would like to see the Canadian system adopt some of the innovations in the Taiwan system to make our system better. How about removing the massive restrictions, near ban, on private general medical insurance? Its already been partially lifted by court decisions, but just yanking it out of national and provincial law entirely would be a good thing.

To: gg cox who wrote (6106)	2/13/2009 12:15:50 PM
From: Peter Dierks	Respond to of 42652

many countries, not only America, are on the leading edge of break through pharmaceuticals and no need to prove this again. How many are on the leading edge of providing sufficient profits to pharmaceutical companies to justify the high cost and high risk of developing new drugs? I notice you don't actually want to address the fact that Canada and most of the world are free riders on the backs of American consumers. Of course you keep dodging the real free rider issue. Do you have any opinions on Taiwan healthcare system? I don't know much about it. Is it another idyllic dream socialist medicine mecca? Of course getting completely off paper records and going completely digital Small minded politicians want to take credit for the innovation that capitalists in the pursuit of profits implement. So what if Obama wants claim to have invented electronic records. he'll just go down as another Al Gore (who, by the way, invented the internet).

To: gg cox who wrote (6106)	2/13/2009 12:25:18 PM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 42652

""...far superior to anything in the world, in my opinion."" Ya gotta wonder about a system that spends $686 per person per year on health care.

To: gg cox who wrote (6106)	2/13/2009 12:32:44 PM
From: TimF	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

Lol, we have been over this one dozens of times on this thread.Many, many countries, not only America, are on the leading edge of break through pharmaceuticals and no need to prove this again.Shucks, here is another tiny example. responsebio.com Your attacking a straw man. Your arguing against "All drug innovations, come from America", or perhaps "All drug innovations come from American companies". Those are easy arguments to demolish, but no one (at least no one here) is making those arguments. The real argument is that a disproportionate amount of financial incentive for drug innovation (wherever it happens, or whoever does it), comes from the American consumer. We don't have government price controls on drugs, or monopsony buying, so drug companies from all over the world, can make a high profit on sales of non-generic prescription drugs to Americans. This high profit drives drug research, development, and testing. Researching, developing, and testing new drugs is very expensive, and most drug candidates never make it to market. The high profits on blockbuster new drugs are what funds, and incentives all the spending. Canada, and many other countries reduce these profits considerably through price controls, monopsony buying, and other methods. If we followed suit, than in the short run American drug consumers would be better off but we would see new drug development slashed (and it would focus even more on the type of drugs, that those who like to complain about pharmaceutical companies complain about, safe minor modifications, "me too" drugs, and drugs like viagra, rather than things like anti-bodies, or drugs for modest and currently unserved markets)