Subject:
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Re: A question for my Canadian pals
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Sat, 16 Oct 2004 19:00:37 GMT
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Viewed:
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1587 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Frank Filz wrote:
> Dave Schuler wrote:
> > If he can afford to have it. Do you accept that some people, through
> > no fault of their own, truly and literally cannot afford health
> > insurance?
>
> Ok, here's a question on this one. If we truly believe that society owes
> everyone healthcare, do we include global society? Do we owe the billions of
> people in India and China the same standard of healthcare that is being
> demanded for universal health care in the US? And how much health care do we
> guarantee? If we truly owe everyone in society the same healthcare, I'm
> affraid we wouldn't have any time or money for hobbies.
>
> And who makes the decisions? I think healthcare is an infinite sink. We
> could ALWAYS spend more for more benefit. Who makes the decisions when to
> give up? With socialized medicine without any private option, you will have
> to have cold hard bureaucracy making the decisions as to who lives and who
> dies. Do you really want that?
>
> These are hard questions, but I think we really need to start answering
> them. Every year, it seems there are more and more cases of huge amounts of
> money being spent to keep folks alive who have almost no measureable quality
> of life. And there are folks who demand that we spare no expense in keeping
> them alive. If we really were to accept those demands, we would spare NO
> effort on health care improvements. We would spend no time and money on
> hobbies. I see almost no one in the world who has actually stepped up to
> this challenge, so obviously at some level I think everyone does accept that
> there must be limits, that, to be blunt, there must be health care
> rationing.
>
> I think we also can NOT prevent people from spending their own money to get
> care better than whatever the common system provides. So how do we make that
> fair?
>
> Now I am open to being convinced that there may be room for a government run
> safety net, paid for by taxes, that covers a very tiny number of people who
> have just plain fallen through the cracks. Of course I would point out that
> no current government program succeeds in this area. Outside of that, I
> would prefer to see market forces drive the system. And I'm confident that
> charity works (look at how much money was raised after 9/11).
>
> Frank
It's an interesting point you make about owing healthcare to the world,
especially right now with the shortage of the flu virus vaccinations happening.
Ontario, where I live, used to provide free flu virus shots to anyone that
walked into a clinic, no questions asked. Now with this shortage of
vaccinations in the States, we're getting a lot of Americans showing up getting
their shots here. As of yesterday, clinics in Ontario are demanding proof of
residency. There is considerable opposition to this change, the feeling being
that a flu epidemic in the US, will become an epidemic in Canada. To hear
health officials in Canada say : "this medicine is for our citizens. It is not
for them (Americans)" is a little startling. But perhaps not, if you view
healthcare as a free market system.
Angela
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: A question for my Canadian pals
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| (...) Ok, here's a question on this one. If we truly believe that society owes everyone healthcare, do we include global society? Do we owe the billions of people in India and China the same standard of healthcare that is being demanded for (...) (20 years ago, 6-Oct-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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