> Remember this the next time you hear a politician tout the Canadian or
> British National Health systems as what we should emulate. She was
> operating on only half the facts before when she suggested this. ;-)
Gee, I guess I'm not the only one who "knows better"! Socialized medicine
can work, it just doesn't. Brazil wasn't too bad; they have two medical
systems, frequently the same people in both. The way it "works" is that you
have no choice but to pay into the nationalized system and it is there if
you need it. If, however, you want to have more choice of doctors and a much
shorter line, you tap into the private medical system and pay for it
yourself. Because the doctor generally spends half his day working for the
government and the other half being an entrepeneur, the private rates are
not as exorbitant as you might think. So, yes, you can save money if you are
willing to wait longer, but it isn't as if it is your only option. Could be
worse. Nonetheless, if we would eliminate the bulk of the malpractice suits
and bring malpractice insurance rates back to normal, we would have a better
system here than most anywhere else in the world. No, that is not currently
the case.
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