Submitted by Scott Baker, Jun 27, 2007 12:48

It's hard to know whether to laugh or cry at how many ways Mr. Blackwell is wrong about the current healthcare system and how to fix it.

First, 45 million Americans have no health care at all - no other industrialized country dosn't cover all its citizens, never mind Cuba.

Second, the amazing thing is not that Cuba's healthcare isn't quite up to ours at the forefront of technology, but that it is very nearly as good at 1/20th the cost per person. In fact, Cubans outlive us and have a lower infant mortality rate and less of almost every chronic disease - perhaps its from having a rationed diet instead of a free market obesity creating one.

Third, Chronic waiting, denied care, bureaucratic delays and cutting people off the healthcare roles for trivial reasons are all hallmarks of our CURRENT system, not single payer government systems like England, France and Canada have - or Cuba.

Fourth, we have by far the most expensive system in the world, yet according to W.H.O. we rank 32 in world health overall. It's not fair to blame all of this on the medical/industrial establishment, but we are clearly not getting our monies worth either. Besides, the French smoke and drink to their heart's content (or discontent) and they still outlive us.

Fifth, the free market works, but you have to be wary of the true goals. The goals in this case are to save money on the part of the HMOs. As Nixon discussed when he approved the first HMO, that was a main reason for approving of the HMO plan put forth by Kaiser in the first place.

Sixth, doctors live quite well in France, England and Canada - it's a bit disingenuous to compare the lifestyles of professionals in one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere (I'll leave the discussion of how Cuba got that way for another time).

Seventh, the HMO system is bloated with bureaucrats and marketers who do nothing to improve anyone's health and a lot to ruin it in the first case. As several people who worked for HMOs pointed out in the movie, it was their job to deny care and they received bonuses when they did so.

Eighth, we shouldn't compare buying health insurance to buying car insurance - except to the extent that both have regulated minimum levels of coverage, regardless of whether the buyer happens to think it is worth "taking a chance" on an accident/sickness. Most people have no idea how a catastrophic illness can destroy their lives financially and how suddenly it can happen. As the movie showed, many middle class people, even if they are successfully treated, can lose everything they worked for. Illness is the single biggest reason for bankruptcy among the middle class, even if they are covered by insurance.

Ninth, the runaway costs of healthcare distract us from focusing on preventative measures. By accomodating an inefficient, bloated system which saves pennies and wastes dollars, we have less money for putting gyms in schools and healthy meals in cafeterias.

Tenth, What's with the kneejerk reaction against government-run programs? Would you like a privite police force? A privite fire department? Those agencies have problems, it's true, but at least a police officer doesn't have to check your membership card before coming to your rescue.

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