5/29/2007

New Op-ed FoxNews.com: Moore's Myths Sicko

10 Comments:

Blogger John Doe said...

Hehe, very true. Don't tell the liberals -- it would dash some of their daydreams!

By the way, Mr. Lott, I've researched gun control for quite some time. I want to thank you for your book More Guns, Less crime -- it was incredible, and greatly revealed the truth about gun control.
-Shaun

5/30/2007 1:03 AM  
Blogger Will said...

Ahh, very true indeed. I appreciate you trying to promote reason in the health care debate. This particular article reminds me of some of the works by David Gratzer, MD (Manhatten Institute) warning against HillaryCare, and other health care proposals that are tumultuous manipulations of the market.

5/30/2007 1:12 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Michael Moore gets to go on the list of things which are worse than Wikipedia.

5/30/2007 3:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Heh, you nailed that one John!!

5/30/2007 6:45 PM  
Blogger John Lott said...

Dear Rich, WIll, Kris, and Anonymous,

Thank you all very much.

5/31/2007 3:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In Ontario, Canada (where I live) the government maintains this site.

Ontario Wait Times

Health care can be expensive, so naturally the government attempts to control costs. Ontario does this by having a 'single payor' system, where only gov't insurance is allowed, and they set the price that is paid for most procedures. You ARE allowed to pay cash for health care, but the number of people that can afford to do this for major (and many not so major) procedures are statistically insignificant and have little effect on the market.

It is important to note that the Ontario government does not actually employ most health care providers, they simply make sure that no one else can afford to pay them, becoming the only real market for their services.

Demand is high (the consumer doesn't pay directly), price is low (government controlled), and supply falls far short of demand.

Something that is not often mentioned is that there is a real shortage of family physicians in most areas of Ontario and you can wait YEARS to find one willing to take you on as a patient.

Finally, after comparing income tax rates between Florida (where I used to live) and Ontario (where I live now), I calculated that my free health care costs me about 600.00 per week now compared to about 600.00 per month for family health insurance when I paid for it myself). (I make a bit less that 60,000 a year)

A real bargain.

5/31/2007 7:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Perhaps you should note how many people actually participated in that survey. There are almost 9 million uninsured children in the United States. If each of those children's parents participated in the survey, then it would be legitimate. Visit one of the ERs across this country and you will see the only medical care that these children ever receive. I'm sure you would just blame it on the parents, but if you were a member of the "working poor" in this country you might know the truth. The healthcare in this country is sad. People have to choose between meds and food. How can such a rich country care so little about its own children?

6/01/2007 11:37 AM  
Blogger Harles said...

I am a member of the "working poor" and my job does not provide insurance. That is not an insurmountable problem. My wife and I have enough food, and we purchase private insurance at a reasonable rate. We just don't eat out much. It is a matter of personal responsability. One has to learn to budget, and work to improve your situation.

I lived in England for two years and saw the results of government run health care. It is horrible. I would not wish it on anyone.

You are worried about the children, Mr. Anonymous? I watched my neighbor's child laying on a hospital bed for six days with appendicitis. The refused to operate until it ruptured, because it was not "necisary".

Americans without insurance get better care than the NHS (National Health Service) provides in England.

Any way I can, I will fight government takeover of health care. It is horrible.

6/02/2007 12:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You're right. I would never trust government to run the healthcare system. That is, the US Government. I have flown around the world as a pilot, have relatives in 5 different countries (AU, UK, DE, CN (HK), and USA) and I can tell you from personal experience in FR, UK and DE, the healthcare is not much different than here. Sure, there are horror stories in those other countries, but there are many horror stories in the USA.
The insurance companies here in the USA are pathetic. Making profit on peoples lives.
What ever happened to the direct "patient to provider" link? How did these insurance companies manage to wedge themselves between the Doctors and patients?

In talking with many older people who worked for doctors 3 to 4 decades ago, they enlightened me as to what happened when insurance companies got involved and the extra people who were hired just to process the paperwork for claims, which in turn raised the expense for the doctors offices and of course the cost passed on to the patients.

If you can't get your car fixed, you can walk or bike and still go to work. If you can't get food to eat, well you probably will lose weight.
If you can't get your health fixed and you have little or no choice to get healthcare, well you figure the answer out.
And no, it is not a matter of choice all the time. There are many people who simply cannot afford to go to the doctor because they lost their job, have families and had to work just to make ends meet. And no, there are not "free" healthcare clinics or services available in many parts of the USA.

Mr. Lott, please (if you have the time) explain to me the inaccuracies in the "Frontline" series entitled "Sick around the world" made on 18APR2008.

The different systems portrayed are interesting. They seem to work. Well at least according to other pilots I know who live in each of these countries.
Funny, barbs are thrown at all the rest of the world healthcare systems.
.
The biggest thing I see, through statistics, is other people have longer lifespans compared to here in the USA.

There is no easy answer.

But I do know one thing, we have the best congress money can buy.

5/27/2008 11:32 AM  
Blogger John Lott said...

Dear The_Pilotman:

Would you trust any of these other governments to run airlines well? The government airlines that I know of run at losses, require monopolies to protect them from competition, and are usually not as good (despite much higher costs). I haven't seen the TV program that you refer to, but the posts that I have put up on health care coverage in other countries indicates that there are significant concerns with them.

5/28/2008 12:19 AM  

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