Doesn't surprise me. I lived in Detroit for more than a decade, and the folks over the bridge in Windsor, at least those I spoke to, were really pretty happy with their health insurance. I had a (formerly) Canadian co-worker who had lived under both their system and ours, and she was in retrospect quite appreciative of Canadian health care.
What many people don't get is how incredibly lucrative U.S. healthcare is. It is the sixth ranking sector of our economy. A corollary of this is that there is immense money and power behind the preservation of the status quo. What many people also don't get is that the American healthcare system does very well at what it is intended to do - make money. No kidding, I've been there, it is a gravy train second only to petroleum and defense contracting. The problem is, when it is you or your loved one facing a grave illness, you really wish the primary purpose of the system was to save lives and make people better. Lee Peter Frederick wrote: > All the howling and insurance company advertising aside, my experience > with the Ontario single payer plan was quite good -- at least for my > friends and colleagues, as I didn't use it in the three years I was there. > > My taxes were lower in Canda, too. > > Peter > > On Dec 13, 2008, at 3:09 AM, Hendrik & Fay wrote: > >> Interesting read but more left wing loony stuff no doubt >> http://allcountries.org/health/usa_health_care_2008_nyt.html >> >> Hendrik & Fay wrote: >>> Moore used Canada, Great Britain, France and Cuba's health systems as >>> examples of ones where the collective pays for the individual to get >>> treated for medical problems. >>> According to him all those countries peoples have a longer life >>> expectancy than those in the US and lower infant mortality (although >>> according to the WHO statistics Cuba is lower than the US). >>> Of course you can't entirely blame the health system on this but it >>> makes you wonder if a profit driven system is a good idea. >>> From memory the US is ranked 37 on the list of good health care >>> systems, whilst expenditure per capita is number 1. >>> http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html >>> Also spends the second most as a % of GDP >>> http://www.photius.com/rankings/total_health_expenditure_as_pecent_of_gdp_2000_to_2005.html >>> >>> So this leads me to think that money is not the problem but how and >>> on what it is spend in the system. >>> Whilst Australia is ranked 29 in the % of GDP and 17 in per capita >>> and the overall rank in 2000 was 32 but number 2 in life expectancy. >>> I can understand Japan being number one in the life expectancy rank, >>> probably due to diet and genetics but Australia is a mixed bag (as >>> the US is) and our indigenous population has a shocking life >>> expectancy rate. >>> >>> Hendrik >>> who is not a statistician >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > -- Lee If you would be unloved and forgotten, be reasonable. - Kurt Vonnegut _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
