So it turns out that not only are Americans less healthy than the British (who have universal health coverage), Americans are also less healthy than the Canadians (who also have universal health coverage).
Specifically, Americans suffered with more diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, and arthritis. More Americans were overweight, more Americans reported not being able to afford medications. You might find it to be of concern that Canadians are three times more likely to have an unacceptable wait time to see a doctor, but it’s still only 3.5%. Think about that the next time your 10:15 appointment begins at 11:00. By contrast, Americans are seven times more likely to put off medical care because they can’t afford it.
Even Forbes is running an article that quotes experts saying things like “We (Americans) have the best doctors, best hospitals, and best nurses in the world. But the way we finance healthcare just doesn’t let us do the job. Given what we are now spending on our healthcare system, we can do better — if we just had national health insurance and were allowed to do it right.” In short, The Best is available to Americans, but it doesn’t matter if we can’t afford it. And that’s in Forbes, a publication with well-known old-fashioned socially and fiscally conservative philosophies.
The time has come to stop mucking about with an expensive system that doesn’t work, and implement a system that has already been proven in several nations.
In closing: another strand of the Gordian Knot called immigration; one town tries to decide what to do when a river doesn’t run through it anymore; the last two CEOs turned Treasury Secretary did such a fine job that President Bush nominated a third one for the job; we need alternative energy sources so badly we can’t bother with conservation anymore; and finally (thanks Brian), a man who is tough on a bathtub.