NOT SICK OF UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE

After Hillary Clinton's failed attempt at Universal Health Care back in the early nineties, it seemed that the issue would be forever off the table (kind of like impeachment). Things have certainly changed since then. The rising cost of health care, the number of uninsured in the U.S., and the resurgence of the DemoctratIC party have brought this important issue back to the forefront.

Of course, The Right hates this concept to their core, and they have wasted no time in extracting their false claims and misinformation to convince the public that this is a horrible idea. A couple months ago, I posted a blog entry about Rudy Giuliani's trip to Montecito where I pointed to the following comment made by the distinguished mayor:

Who has the best health care in the world? Who has a better health care system? Is there one we should borrow from somewhere else? Do you want the health care system they have in England? Or Germany, or Canada, or anyplace else?

Then a few weeks later, I had a less than civil debate on the Independent's web site with a right wing guy who goes by the name of "mcconfrontation." Amongst other ... um ... things, he said the following:

... and as for the UHC they propose.... my god. what is this Canada?

Poor Canada. How did they become the health care punching bag for conservatives? As I stated before, this just makes me laugh. There are never any facts to back up these kinds of statements, so instead, they just say it in such a way that you can't help but think it's true ... WHO WOULD WANT TO GO TO A DOCTOR IN CANADA!? OH, THE HORROR!

Now, let's talk truth. Last week, MSN had a great article on this subject with the title Report: U.S. health care expensive, inefficient. I would recommend that you read the whole thing, but if you don't, here's one of many good quotes:

Americans get the poorest health care and yet pay the most compared to five other rich countries, according to a report released on Tuesday.

Germany, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada all provide better care for less money, the Commonwealth Fund report found.

“The U.S. health care system ranks last compared with five other nations on measures of quality, access, efficiency, equity, and outcomes,” the non-profit group, which studies health care issues, said in a statement.

Interesting how three of those five countries made Giuliani's list, huh? The other interesting fact is that all five of them provide universal health care to their citizens. But that's not all the article points out:

The current system leaves about 45 million people with no insurance at all, according to U.S. government estimates from 2005, and many studies have shown most of these people do not receive preventive services that not only keep them healthier, but reduce long-term costs ...

... “It is pretty indisputable that we spend twice what other countries spend on average,” she said.

So, there you have it: we spend way more on health care but are way less healthy as a country. Period.

Now, I know what the Republicans are going to say: "But Trekking Left, we have the best hospitals and the best doctors in the world. When people are really sick, why do they come to the U.S. for treatment?" Good question. The answer is, yes, we do have great health care ... if you can afford it. And that's the problem. We are only providing that awesome health care to our wealthy citizenry. If we were giving it to everyone, then we surely wouldn't be last on that list. Plus, as the article intimated, we spend more on the uninsured anyway because we only treat them after they are really sick. Preventative care saves money!

The more I think about this, the more I wonder why anyone opposes it. Think about this: one of the reasons stated by GM that they are having such a difficult financial situation has to do with the amount of money they spend to insure their employees. What if GM didn't have to worry about that and, instead, could just focus on making cars? Seems to me like universal health care is a win-win for everybody.

So, in conclusion, I'd like to answer Giuliani's question ... "Do you want the health care system they have in England? Or Germany, or Canada, or anyplace else?"

Yes, please.