Text 9211, 110 rader
Skriven 2009-02-17 23:31:00 av Bob Klahn (1:124/311)
     Kommentar till en text av Bob Ackley
Ärende: LIMBAUGH ENVY
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 ...

 BA>>> One will die a lot more quickly from lack of food than from
 BA>>> lack of health care.

 BK>>  They will find a way to get food distributed faster than they
 BK>>  will find a way to get medical care back in service.

 BA>>> Why aren't you folks pushing to nationalize the food
 BA>>> production and distribution
 BA>>> industries?  You don't suppose it's because every time that
 BA>>> has been done the system has failed miserably, resulting in
 BA>>> starvation deaths for thousands of people, do you?

 BK>>  No, it's because the food distribution system is not the
 BK>>  problem. So, just which "you folks" are you referring to?

 BA> You want to nationalize the health care system.  'You
 BA> folks' is you and those who agree with you.

 National health care is single payer. In many countries the
 health care providers are still private, just the financing is
 public.

 BA> While you say the food distribution system is not the
 BA> problem, there are people in this country that are hungry.

 Yes, there are. And the food is there. The problem is not the
 food production system, it produces plenty of food. The
 distribution system puts it where it is needed. The problem is
 money, and for the very poor the system is nationalized, and the
 only failing it has is not doing enough.

 Remember the big difference between medical care and food. You
 might go for years not needing any medical care at all. You
 won't go a month without food. Maybe 15 days?

 You consume food every day, you consume medical care only when
 you are sick. You can calculate out pretty well how much you
 will have to spend on food for a year ahead. You can never be
 sure how much medical care you will need unless you are
 terminal. However little or much you expect to need, you can
 need horrendous amounts, at horrendous cost, tomorrow.

 That is why you need insurance, and unless the insurance
 industry is willing to cover every single American at a cost
 that truly spreads the cost of medical care, we will continue
 to need government coverage.

 BK>>  Oh, and we do have govt subsidies for food in this country. And
 BK>>  our private sector food system will rant and rave if you try to
 BK>>  end it.

 BA>>> Take the profit motive out of any industry and those who
 BA>>> are most likely to make that industry successful and
 BA>>> productive will find another career path or move to
 BA>>> someplace where their talents and abilities will be
 BA>>> rewarded.

 BK>>  Your point? Tell us something we don't know. OTOH, make any
 BK>>  industry purely profit motivated, and you get salmonella in the
 BK>>  peanut butter.

 BA> Take the profit motive out of health care and you won't
 BA> have any providers, or any *good* ones, anyway.  Far from

 In Japan they have more hospital rooms per capita than the US
 does. They have national health care, spend less per capita than
 we do, and keep the profit motive in it.

 BA> providing health care for all, you'll *eliminate* it for
 BA> all.

 Not one country in the world that has national health care has
 eliminated it for all. Instead they provide it for all, unlike
 the US.

 BA> Well, not all.  It occurs to me that large medical centers
 BA> will be built along the Mexican border - in Mexico - in
 BA> Caribbean countries and maybe even in hospital ships that
 BA> loiter outside US territorial waters to cater to those who
 BA> can afford to go there and pay for treatment (cash only,
 BA> and up front, please; no checks, credit cards or
 BA> insurance).  Americans are already travelling to India to
 BA> have some medical procedures done - and they seem to be
 BA> quite happy with the results.

 Yep. And Southeast Asia. Can't recall for sure, I think it's
 Thailand.

 And Mexico.

 So, even with our private sector health care system, Americans
 are going out of the country for care.

 So, where's the problem. BTW, the govt already pays for about as
 much of our medical care as the insurance industry does.

 Most everything the govt does works better before republicans
 take it over. After all they hold it as dogma that the
 government can't do anything right, and they do their best to
 prove it when they are in control.


BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

... The ultimate law of the universe...Murphy's law.
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