Re:An American Doctor Experiences the NHS Again
by arcticbull on Monday August 22, 2016 @01:14AM
(#12334259)
> America still has one of the best facilities in the world...
Not really, at #31 in the WHO rankings [1], it's not even close to the best. At #1 in per capita expenditures, it's also wildly inefficient.
For half the per-capita expenditure Canada covers all its citizens. The US spends $8713 per person, per year on healthcare, where Canada spends $4429. [2] The result is a very comparable quality healthcare system (#30 vs. #31 in [1]) that covers everyone.
The truth is allowing for profit in a social security program is by definition allowing for inefficiency. Socialized systems do not need to spend money on advertising, on individual billing/accounting systems, or on profits. Nor should they, IMO. Social programs are for everyone. There's plenty of other businesses out there people can profit from. Caring for people when they need it most shouldn't be one of them.
Not really, at #31 in the WHO rankings [1], it's not even close to the best. At #1 in per capita expenditures, it's also wildly inefficient.
For half the per-capita expenditure Canada covers all its citizens. The US spends $8713 per person, per year on healthcare, where Canada spends $4429. [2] The result is a very comparable quality healthcare system (#30 vs. #31 in [1]) that covers everyone.
The truth is allowing for profit in a social security program is by definition allowing for inefficiency. Socialized systems do not need to spend money on advertising, on individual billing/accounting systems, or on profits. Nor should they, IMO. Social programs are for everyone. There's plenty of other businesses out there people can profit from. Caring for people when they need it most shouldn't be one of them.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization_rank...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_hea...