Looking at the pesky realities of different health care systems

There are those who will not be happy until they see the best health-care system in the world dragged down to the unacceptable levels of the systems in Canada and the United Kingdom. These socialized medical systems are horrible and getting worse every year. Wait times for treatment now exceed 41⁄2 months for nearly every mode of care including radiation for cancer patients and even psychiatric care. The Canadian Association of Radiologists says that up to half of all radiology services in Canada could be shut down unless outdated, dangerous equipment is replaced immediately. There are more MRIs in Washington state than in all of Canada because of budget limitations.

Men are 10 percent more likely to die of prostate cancer in the U.K. than in the Netherlands, a country that has seen the light and has been backing out of socialized medicine for some time. American women have a 63 percent chance of living at least five years after a cancer diagnosis, compared to 56 percent for European women and only 53 percent for women in the U.K. American men have a five-year survival rate from cancer of 66 percent compared to only 47 percent for European men and 45 percent for men in the U.K. These are incontestable statistics that the proponents of socialized medicine deliberately hide from the public. These same unfavorable mortality statistics would apply to Americans if we were foolish enough to adopt universal health care. We all know that the most important factors in cancer survival are early diagnosis and time to treatment. No country in the world is better in this regard than the U.S., and our survival rates prove it.

Socialized medicine has failed everywhere it has been instituted. Even our senior version of socialized medicine, Medicare, is in a financial tailspin with premiums and coinsurance increasing while benefits decrease.

If our state lawmakers would simply find the courage to deal with the special interests and eliminate state-mandated insurance benefits, reduce health-insurance fraud, reduce medical malpractice, reduce medical errors and institute tort reform, health-insurance costs could be reduced by 50 percent or more. Health-insurance premiums would be much more affordable for those who want coverage, and our Medicaid cost burden would be greatly reduced. All of this could be accomplished while maintaining the highest standard of medical care in the entire world. Let’s fix the problems in our present system and leave socialism and it’s well-known problems to the socialists.

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