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Middle of the Road in Healthcare Leads to Socialism

- Ron Paul -

On the matter of costs in the US vs. other countries. For decades doctors, nurses, lab techs, and almost anyone with training in any medical profession was lured to the US as the compensation was often twice or greater than could be received at home. Take these high costs for staffing and now lets ad on huge costs from liability exposure in the form of law suits and insurance to get an understanding of what helps drive up costs. Law suits against doctors is almost unheard of in many countries with government provided health care and when there is a case wherein the patient wins the awards are minuscule compared to what would be paid out in the US. While not sufficient to break the bank, these two items will have contributed to the huge costs the public has endured. Share holders in the various companies, running multiple hospitals not to mention pharmaceuticals, have made great profits, as they expected when investing in these organizations. This, pharmaceuticals, is another aspect that when compared to other countries can contribute a substantial amount to overall costs. How many billions of dollars are spent on pharmaceuticals in US hospitals every year? Again the pharmaceutical companies know how to charge to compensate for money they will have to pay out to winners of law suits. Years ago I needed a prescription for some antibiotics while traveling in south America. Cost was the equivalent of $12.00 whereas the same medication 3 months later at home was $85.00. To glean a real understanding of where the money goes, a look at the breakdown of all related costs without any details being fudged, or creative embellishment, could be very enlightening. While derived profits are substantial I still suspect that this is small compared to actual costs.

Additionally, timely access to technology such as CT Scans, MRI, and even lab results loads the system with higher costs but you get what you pay for. A real world example of this is the number of people from countries with socialized medicine willing to pay the travel costs as well as cash for treatments and diagnosis in countries like Mexico or Guatemala. Personal opinion will of course vary on the quality of service people will receive in these countries and there are many horror stories but there are as many stories of needless suffering caused by horrendous wait times in countries like the UK and Canada.

Your point that the American systems are for profit, so are those in countries with socialized medicine schemes. As proof that socialized health care provides profits, an easily observable example for anyone would be the accoutrements and palatial landscaped gardens found in and around hospitals in these countries. If there were no profit monies would not be spent on glorifying these institutions. There is so much more, it would come down to analyzing at a micro level to see what the money is thrown at so keeping this discussion at a 10000 foot level and looking at the bigger slices of pie is adequate.

Interestingly, some Canadian provinces are looking at offering a mix of private and government health care. If implemented, in a few years time there should be enough data to ascertain which provided the best care vs. cost.

Commented 3905 days ago

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Beginning of the headline :The ever-expanding role of government in healthcare provides an excellent example of Ludwig Von Mises' warning that "The Middle of the Road Leads to Socialism." Beginning in the 1940s, government policies distorted the health care market, causing prices to rise and denying many Americans access to quality care. Congress reacted to the problems caused by their prior interventions with new interventions, such as the HMO Act, ERISA, EMTLA, and various federal entitlement programs. Each... Read More

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