Mitt has Seen the Future...

And it seems to be socialized medicine, Israeli style.

Speaking today to a small group of Israeli contributors to his campaign, the GOP presidential candidate—and supposed sworn enemy of government controlled healthcare—had kind words for the success of Israel’s healthcare system.

When our health care costs are completely out of control. Do you realize what health care spending is as a percentage of the GDP in Israel? 8 percent. You spend 8 percent of GDP on health care. And you’re a pretty healthy nation”

A healthy nation, indeed.

With a life-expectancy rate that is the 4th best in the world (the United States is 38th) and a reputation for delivering high-quality care to all of its citizens by utilizing the most advanced medical technology available in a hospital system we can only envy from afar, Governor Romney is right to be impressed with the Israelis’ ability to deliver excellent care while keeping spending down to 8 percent of GDP as compared to 18 percent here in the United States.

If only Romney’s appreciation of Israel’s success did not fly smack in the face of his constant, ideologically based rhetoric guaranteed to insure that only the wealthiest Americans get a taste of the healthcare Israelis receive as their birthright.

Or does the Governor simply not understand that Israel’s healthcare success story—including their ability to control costs— is the direct result of the nation’s socialized healthcare system that has existed since the country’s founding in 1948 and institutionalized by law in 1995? Today, the nation of Israel requires that every Israeli belong to one of four health maintenance organizations (that’s right…mandated participation)—each operating as a non-profit and each funded by the Israeli government via a progressive tax that every citizen is obligated to pay based on their earnings. What’s more, the uniform benefits offered by the HMOs are established by the central government and must be made available to every single citizen—regardless of their medical circumstances (the phrase ‘pre-existing condition’ apparently does not exist in the Hebrew language.)

And those basic benefits made available to all Israelis are pretty darn good.

They include medical diagnosis and treatment, preventative medicine, any required hospitalization for any reason whatsoever, surgery, organ transplants, ambulance or transport service, treatment for drug abuse and alcoholism, medical equipment and appliances, obstetrics and fertility treatments, all prescribed pharmaceuticals, and physiotherapy and occupational therapy.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Anti-Libertarian: re-post

The most pointed critique of social security and liberalism in general is the libertarian critique. The problem with libertarians, for a liberal, is that we have too much in common. We both believe in individual rights, tolerance of individual differences, and dislike government prescription of religion. The basic difference, it seems to me, is the different answers we give to Cain's (with thanks to the Captain - my original version had the corpse asking the question!) famous question: "Am I my brother's keeper?" That's not really my basic bitch against the libertarians though. My real complaint is the same as my complaint against most religion - its premise is a fraud. For those who can't stand to wait for the punchline, I believe that trying to implement libertarian principles leads to tyranny or social disintegration. Demonstrating that takes some historical (and pre-historical) context. For all but the last 15,000 or so of the 100,000 years the human spec
Read more

Uneasy Lies The Head

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown ........... Shakespeare Henry IV, Part II. So it is with us and our slightly distant primate cousins , so it seems. A 9-year study of wild baboons in Kenya by Princeton University and the Institute of Primate Research may turn conventional assumptions of alphas males upside down. The study found that alpha males have high testosterone levels, which allows them to dominate other baboons, get access to more food, and attract better mates. This is expected. Surprisingly, though, the alpha males also have high levels of stress hormone glucocorticoid, which scientists measured from their feces samples. In fact, the stress of alpha baboons was on par with low-ranking baboons. The convention wisdom is that access to food and females provides life security and thus less stress for dominant males. Conversely, weak males who are constantly threatened by starvation and physical violence from stronger males are thought to be more stressed. The st
Read more

We Call it Soccer

The US played its best, and maybe only good game of World Cup, but lost thanks to brilliant goalkeeping by the Swedish keeper and the bizarre method soccer uses to settle ties when three US stars could not put the ball on frame from the 12 yard spot.  At the end it came down to a blocked shot that spun in by maybe a couple of centimeters. Well, that's football - too much like life.   Which brings me to a modest proposal.  Replace the thirty minute overtimes with as many 7-player 15 minute periods as needed to settle it.  Scoring should be much easier with fewer players.
Read more