Text 1284, 118 rader
Skriven 2004-08-13 23:12:44 av Steve Asher (3:800/432.0)
   Kommentar till text 1243 av LEE LOFASO (1:123/140)
Ärende: President John Kerry !!
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Mulling over LEE LOFASO to STEVE ASHER 11 Aug 2004

Hi Lee...

 LL> John and Vern are indirectly referring to Proposition 186 in
 LL> California. 

I am responding to Vern's specific (and erroneous) claim about access
to kidney dialysis in England. Unless or until he gets his facts right
on this, anything else he refers to in the health area is suspect.

 LL> However, the USA is the *only* nation in the civilized
 LL> world which does not have a universal health care system.  It may
 LL> have the best medical care in the world, but it is not accessible
 LL> to everyone.

I can only take your word for that. Again, all governments are likely
to claim that theirs is the best health system, & oppositions are
likely to claim that it is deficient, & sometimes catastrophically so.

 LL> Australia used to have a system similar to the USA.  But it faced
 LL> the same problems, and had to change its system.  

Health insurance was, until the election of the Whitlam government, 
provided by private health co-ops, such as Mutual Hospital. There
were differing "tables" available to cover different services,
private rooms, etc.

 LL> Then, Australia went to a total government-run system, which led 
 LL> to even greater problems being that folks had a difficult time 
 LL> scheduling visits or getting medical care when they needed it.  

I don't recall any particular problems - I just continued to go to
the same GP as normal, but instead of submitting a claim to the
private fund, I was "bulk billed" under the Medibank scheme.

 LL> Today, Australia has a mixed system, but one that guarantees 
 LL> access to quality medical care for everyone. 

While it is a very good system, it is not perfect, & like most systems
there are people who "fall through the cracks" & are misdiagnosed or
die etc.

 LL> There are between 40 and 44 million Americans who lack health
 LL> insurance, or lack access to quality health care.  And it is
 LL> getting worse, not better.  Within a few short years, that figure
 LL> is estimated to reach 56 million uninsured Americans.  Perhaps
 LL> higher.

Certainly sounds worse than the case here, where the current Medicare
system is available to all, funded in part by a 1.5% levy on taxable
income, together with private cover for those who want it, can afford
it, or are in a high income bracket that "mandates" it on pain of an
extra Medicare levy if they don't take it out. (A very rough interpretation
of the 2003 "Tax Pack" income tax booklet, which is about the size of a
magazine to "help" with filling out income tax return).

 LL> Like many conservatives, Vern makes stuff up.  ;)

Everybody makes stuff ups - even me. :)

SA>The Guys and St Thomas Hospitals in London provide kidney dialysis
SA>for about 480 patients, including those starting dialysis over the 
SA>age of 60.

 LL> Access to quality health care is the first of all human rights. But
 LL> conservatives do not believe in human rights.  Only the creation of
 LL> more wealth for the wealthy.  Which usually comes at the expense of
 LL> the poor.

Again, that is only a generalisation. In reality, conservative governments
here have often been the most progressive, probably to to the dismay of
the "conservatives" in here. The Liberal state government (extremely
conservative) of Sir Thomas Playford was responsible for nationalising
the private electricity companies to form the Electricity Trust of
South Australia to provide reliable electricity to all, the South Aust.
Housing Trust likewise provided affordable rental homes, & low deposit
purchase homes etc. 

That was in an era when governments of the "left" and "right" here were
prone to nationalise things - the banks fought like cat and dog to stop
the extremely conservative Menzies federal government from nationalising
the banks in the early 1960s. These days, the same governments are busy
privatising everything in sight - public transport, toll roads, banks,
airlines, ports, communications etc, & the public is "benefitting" from
all this deregulation in the form of higher charges & fees. Nothing is
immune from privatisation, including water supplies.

SA>Vern is a politician, and as such is likely to be economical with
SA>the truth when it comes to things like dialysis - it would do his 
SA>electors well to check out his claims against the facts, should he 
SA>be elected, and especially before casting their votes.

 LL> Most voters in this country are uninformed about issues, and not
 LL> really interested in learning what those issues are and how those
 LL> issues affect them.  Elections here are more like personality
 LL> contests rather than debates about issues.

I've noticed that. The major parties do have their conventions etc,
but without the glamour of the US events. There aren't any "free
speech zones" here when the Prime Minister or Opposition Leader come
to town for "meet & greet" sessions. Most of us just go about our
business & pay no attention, while a few do protest on various issues
largely unhindered.

 LL> Years ago, Edwin Edwards won the governorship of Louisiana not
 LL> because of his views on the issues, but because he had a pretty
 LL> face. Little old ladies would see him on television and say "Oh! 
 LL> He's so cute! I'm gonna vote for him!"  Edwards wound up serving
 LL> four terms. And then carted off to prison, thus proving that
 LL> Louisiana has the best politicians that money can buy.

Louisiana Purchase?

Cheers, Steve..

--- 
 * Origin: Xaragmata / Adelaide SA telnet://xaragmata.thebbs.org (3:800/432)