This is an issue that goes beyond our area and goes beyond real estate. But because it involves people, it has everything to do with our area and everything to do with our real estate market.
Did you know that the term "socialized medicine" was coined in 1947 by a PR firm to attack then-President Harry Truman's plan to reform America's health care system? 1947! Nobody knew what the term meant in 1947--it sounded like communism, though, and 1947 was the height of the Cold War. Sixty-two years later the term is still meaningless, but it's still being thrown up as an objection to universal health care. I've heard it from some of you readers--you know who you are.
If "socialized medicine" means a system controlled and administered by the government, we already have it: VA, for example, and Medicare, are controlled and administered by the government. And nobody complains about either.
According to J.R. Reid, a journalist for The Washington Post, "In terms of results, almost all advanced countries have better national health statistics than the United States does. In terms of finance, we force 700,000 Americans into bankruptcy each year because of medical bills. In France, the number of medical bankruptcies is zero. Britain: zero. Japan: zero. Germany: zero."
Not to put too fine a point on it, the American healthcare system is the worst in the civilized world. The worst!
Please read the following article carefully. Sixteen percent of all Americans are denied health care (you know who you are, too). They deserve care. You deserve care. The models already exist--they're outlined in this article. They're successful. We can institute them easily once we take away the profit from insurance companies. Other countries have already done it, and all parties are very happy with the results!
Please comment. Unless you do, I have no idea whether you've read this.
Five Myths About Health Care Around the World
2 comments:
Good, well stated post. Thanks for putting what I've been thinking out there in a simple, understandable well spoken way. And thanks for having the courage to use this medium to say something that is important. - Julia
I couldn't have stated it better,Paul. Unfortunately too many people have never learned critical thinking skills. They prefer to have others think for them and simply repeat what they have heard from their favorite demagogue. The private insurance companies don't have our best interests at heart, only the profit margin. Their money speaks more powerfully than our voices.
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