The Greatest Healthcare System in the World
7 December, 2009
©Pirate Joe
The greatest healthcare system in the world. That’s how I heard a right-wing
demagogue describe our (USA) healthcare system tonight as I was driving
home. No kidding. That’s what he said.
The greatest healthcare system in the world. One needs to take a few moments to let it
all sink in.
The greatest healthcare system in the world. Yes, of
course. The system that updates Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” into
“survival of the wealthiest”. The system that turns folks out to the
streets if they have no money. The system that collects premiums for
years and/or decades only to deny care when you’re flat on your back
and millimeters from death.
The greatest healthcare system in the world. You
know, the one that provides huge salaries, bonuses and all other
accoutrements of the high life to the 70-meter ocean-going yacht C.E.O.
set, while you get cut off.
The greatest healthcare system in the world.
Enriching the lives of greedy corporate pigs who have no compunction
about regarding our suffering from disease or injury as a viable profit
stream.
The greatest healthcare system in the world. If so,
why does not the rest of the civilised world do it this way?
The greatest healthcare system in the world.
Proponents of which tell you that it’s “socialism” when you “pay for
other people’s health care” as in single-payer or true public option,
while never mentioning (that) that’s exactly what you do with private
insurance. Surprised? Don’t believe me? Well, do you think that they
make money on clients who get sick? Do the math: Let’s say you have
paid a $700/month medical insurance premium for 40 years. That’s
$8,400/yr or $336,000 in 40 years. When a one month stay in the
hospital for pneumonia can cost $1,000,000 (!) you can easily see that
the insurance companies lose money on cases such as that, ergo, those that are healthy pay for those who
are not. Just as in socialised medicine.
The greatest healthcare system in the world. Let’s
see now: in socialised medicine, those who are healthy provide the pool
of money to pay for those who are sick. In private for-profit
insurance, those who are healthy provide the pool of money to pay for
those who are sick. Hey, wait a minute, what’s the difference then?
That’s easy: In private for-profit insurance, those
who are healthy provide the pool of money to pay for those who are
sick, profits and huge C.E.O. salaries
and bonuses. In socialised medical systems, the healthy just pay
for the sick. You figure it out.
The greatest healthcare system in the world. Yeah,
right.
-30-