If you think nationalized health care, universal health care, or state funded health care is the answer to our undeniable health care crisis, then think again. Time and again this argument comes up with very strong views on each side, and quite often the information presented is just plain wrong. <\/p>\n
England and Canada are quoted by proponents of nationalized health care as the “shining examples” of what an NHC program could be like here in the U.S. The equivalent to this rationale would be like you or I walking outside on a sunny day, and stating that the sky is green. A better example yet would be you or I stating the sky is green while being holed up in a bunker 50 stories under ground. <\/p>\n
In other words, we like the concept of free medical care for everyone – and on paper that sounds so happy and dreamy – but for those living in these “chocolate butterflies and purple polkadot fairytale zones” (Canada and England), life is quite different than the dream of big government when they enact such legislation. Like they say, the grass is always greener until you’re on the other side.<\/p>\n
Quoted below is an article showing just one example of what lack of competition to healthcare does for you and me (A&E stands for Accident and Emergency, and is not a reference to the TV network):<\/p>\n
Sophie Goodchild, Health Editor
\n29.12.08<\/p>\n
The family of a father of two who died after a six-hour wait in Accident and Emergency today called for an inquiry.<\/p>\n
Stewart Fleming, 37, suffered multiple organ failure from a virus after being sent by his GP to Kent’s Medway Maritime Hospital with a note warning that he had to be seen “straight away”.<\/p>\n
Hospital staff sent him back to queue despite the fact he was in agony. It took three hours to assess Mr Fleming as a “priority case”<\/strong> and another<\/em> three to admit him<\/strong> on 12 December. Only then did doctors start treating the infection.<\/p>\n The railway signalman had a leg amputated before he died at Harefield Hospital near Uxbridge on Saturday. His wife Sarah, 42, described him as a “fantastic father” to Matthew, 12, and Lauren, 14. Mrs Fleming said: “I was with Stewart when the GP called the hospital. He typed us a letter and told us to go to A&E and hand this letter over and that Stewart should be treated immediately. But when we got to A&E it was full to bursting. I walked to the front with the letter and told them what the GP had said, but I was just told to go to the back of the queue.”<\/p>\n Medway NHS Foundation Trust today said it was “saddened to hear of the death of Stewart Fleming”. It added: “Mr Fleming came to Medway Maritime Hospital’s Emergency Department on a day when it was experiencing long waits<\/strong> due to a high number of admissions. The situation was not unique to Medway – hospitals across the country were all experiencing a rise in demand for their services<\/strong> at the time.”\n<\/div>\n (Emphasis Added)<\/p>\n So much for the virtues of socialism.<\/p>\n