Step Right Up For "Free" Health Care!

Neal Boortz, the Atlanta-based syndicated radio talk show host, has predicted for some years now that, the next time we have a Democratic president with a Democratic Congress, we'll get "universal health care," aka socialized medicine. I hope he's wrong. Despite its shortcomings, the U. S. health care system is still be best in the world. Do we want the same outfit that runs FEMA, Amtrak, the IRS, and the post office to run our medical care, which is some 1/7 of the U. S. economy? I don't think so.

Today's Clarion-Ledger had a letter on this topic from Dr. Richard Boronow of Brandon, Mississippi. Here are excerpts:

[All systems of government-run health care feature]... an immense bureaucracy, high governmental cost, loss of doctor-patient relationship, waiting lines at clinics, long waits for surgery and for more expensive diagnostic studies like CT scans, and, almost unbelievably, rationing of services.

News reports published in the Canadian press about the crumbling Canadian system, touted by the utopians here as "the model," are simply nowhere to be seen in the U.S. press. And the most vocal Canadian critic, now retired, is actually the architect of the Canadian system who acknowledges its many failures and is calling for privatization! [Note: When the Clinton administration was pushing Hillarycare in 1993, the premier of Nova Scotia, in a speech in Boston, strongly warned against socialized medicine. Click here for an inside look at Canada's system.]

In at least one country that I know of, if a citizen is 65 or older, he or she is considered "too old" for complex procedures like coronary artery by-pass surgery, joint replacements and the like. We Americans will love this, won't we? [Note: Cleveland, Ohio, is known as the hip-replacement capital of southern Ontario, Canada. If the U. S. government takes over our health care system, where will Canadians go for medical care?

In one country I recently visited... [t]here are no appointments, so get [to the clinic] early because as soon as the day's "quota" of patients have checked in, the doors are closed and locked. And "security" makes sure they are not unlocked.

After-hours care is extremely limited. And the wait for surgery is, on the average, three months.

Congress, without socialization, can do a lot about the cost of "health care" which in reality is "sick care." Health insurance should be tax deductible for all, not just for businesses. Health Savings Accounts should be included. Every and all medically related expense should be tax deductible. That should include office visits to any and all health professionals, any hospital expenses, all costs of professionally recommended drugs, prescription and over the counter, all other health-related expenditures including long term care, etc.

"Wellness" expenditures should be tax deductible also, including smoking cessation programs, weight reduction programs, nutrition courses, membership in fitness centers, etc. ... .

Health insurance should be restructured along the lines of motor vehicle insurance - for major events. ... .

Click here for a post which includes a link to an audio of a warning by Ronald Reagan against socialized medicine. Reagan recorded this some 50 years ago.