Posted by europerep on June 28, 2012, at 16:35:23
In reply to Re: Welcome USA To Socialism Healthcare Bill Passed, posted by Dinah on June 28, 2012, at 16:12:44
I don't see your point. The Swiss don't get less sick than Americans. But if you don't like the example of Switzerland, pick a different country: Sweden, with a high percentage of immigrants, or the Netherlands, with a huge and diverse immigrant population.
This isn't about "sociological makeups", but about what you consider to be the meaning of the word 'society'. If 'society' means for you to assist your fellow citizens, then you'll find a way to pay for health expenses, even if it means that people who do financially well have a slightly higher marginal tax rate. *That* is the actual question here. You can then go on and look at the fact that European citizens get better health care at a lower price, effectively contradicting the theory that the American free-market system of health care results in lower prices for patients. Or you can look at the fact that, right now, American citizens already pay for some other people's healthcare costs via their general taxes (Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act). Or you can look at the fact that European societies do not have what Americans call 'medical bankruptcy'. And so on and so on. The point is that that is not the point. If you want to establish a public healthcare system, you can do it without either bankrupting the country or sacrificing economic competitiveness. That latter part especially is just mindlessly repeated over and over again by Republican politicians, but that doesn't mean it's true. Western European countries falsify this hypothesis.
poster:europerep
thread:1020322
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120608/msgs/1020347.html