Matt in Portland, on Jennifer Rubin:
One of the problems with creating socialized medicine in America is that it will cut off the much needed medical care that people from countries with socialized medicine come here to receive. Seattle Hospitals, for example, have no shortage of Canadian patients who are getting the knee replacements that they needed, but couldn’t get under their own socialized medical system. They have to travel hundreds of miles and pay out of pocket here to receive the medical care which anonymous bureaucrats, acting on committees, have decided they don’t need. They also have to cross the border to get something as simple as physical therapy, which again, government bureaucrats say they don’t need. Where will these people go for their necessary healthcare if we adapt a similarly inflexible and bureaucratic healthcare system.
There’s an economic angle to this as well. If we move to a Canadian style system, we lose healthcare as an “export” income generator. Right now, citizens of countries with socialized medicine are willing to pay American individuals and corporations out of pocket for their healthcare. That generates money for the American economy.