US ambassador killed over a film

[kandrathe]

I tend to think the "blank check" health care programs are doomed to fail due to a lack of resources, and inability for a semi-rigid system to cope with the pace of change, and the volume of health care issues.

By "blank check health care system", do you mean the universal health care system adopted by almost every first world nation (and a few third world nations)? If they are all indeed doomed to fail, then surely some of them already have. Show me some convincing evidence that a government-run universal health care system is a total and complete failure using some real-world examples, and convince me that every nation using such a system is wrong for doing so.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/69520...tml?pg=all

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424...48728.html

In an interview in La Razon with Ana Mato, Ministra de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad de España:

–En una entrevista al diario alemán «Frankfurter Allgemeine», el ministro de Economía, Luis de Guindos, ha anunciado que la próxima reforma que toca es la de Sanidad. ¿Es posible salir de actual situación de bancarrota?

–Yo definiría la situación de nuestro sistema sanitario de absolutamente insostenible. Hacen falta reformas para que el modelo sanitario que tenemos, que es magnífico y de una buena calidad, sea también viable. He propuesto un Pacto de Estado en Sanidad y Políticas Sociales, porque creo que se puede racionalizar el gasto, mejorar los sistemas y quitar duplicidades a través de una cartera básica de servicios.

The key translation there is "I would define the state of our health system is absolutely unsustainable."

The common theme throughout all those I look into is that it's the good when there are sufficient funds; we are all facing the same issue, with a growing population of need and an explosion of technology in treatments, devices and drugs -- just not enough "free money" to fund it all without driving us over the cliff. Unsustainable. It's maddening to know you have the means to solve a problem, but just cannot afford to do it.

A few weeks ago our cat of the last 8 years got really, really sick; the initial emergency room diagnostics were expensive ($500), and ruled out a bunch of things but didn't determine what was really ailing her. So, rather than jump into the $5000 operative procedures (way out of our budget), we opted for a simple regime of bringing her over to our local vet every few days for an hour or two of intervenous fluids and nutrients ($30 a pop). She eventually overcame her ailment, and has bounced back to her usual albeit cranky demeanor. Yes, it's a cat. But, it made me think about the economics of the care we'd like, versus the care we can afford. If you were paying for it, I may have opted for the expensive route (with all the risks of complications) with perhaps a worse outcome.