|
E-mail a Friend about this article & the website
|
New
Zealand's
Ted Matthews, 75, shows his hand and fingers after he
chopped off his gangrenous finger with kitchen scissors as
he could no longer put up with the pain in Timaru,
New
Zealand,
Thursday, Aug. 15, 2002. Christchurch
Hospital, in the south island of New Zealand, told him
he'd have to wait six months for an operation so he
decided to perform the surgery on himself. (AP
Photo/Ron Lindsay, Fotopress)
The
reality: Many nations proclaim to have “managed healthcare” or
government sponsored / paid healthcare (paid for by higher
taxes.) The
reality is that it is more like “managed costs,” which
stifles innovation and causes shortages of doctors and
leads to poor patient healthcare.
In England
their system has historically been plagued by waiting
lists. In
Canada I can attest to my grandmother’s problems with cataracts
and her waiting lists / 4-5 hour drives to meet a
specialist.
Key
Point:
Be careful what you ask for.
We need greater cost containment in the U.S. and
it will likely be the result of Medicare getting pushed
into HMOs in the 2010 - 2020 time span.
The need to reduce costs is going to increase
exponentially as healthcare costs surge due to baby
boomers causing costs to rise as the number of workers per
retiree will be declining.
Tax rates can only go up so much before the younger
generation will call for massive overhaul.
|
Sign up for the FREE
Monthly Newsletter. 