Matt Miller at Daily Beast is all giddy over the Senate deal on the public option.
He explains his giddiness as follows:
“…the emerging bills will deliver what most on the left would have considered a miracle a few years back. Nearly $900 billion will be spent over ten years to achieve near-universal coverage. Insurance companies will never again deny people coverage based on pre-existing conditions. New limits on out-of-pocket costs as a percent of income will mean that no American will ever go bankrupt from medical costs again. And, thanks to the Senate’s Tuesday deal, Americans aged 55 to 64 who lose coverage (and can't find affordable new coverage on their own) would be able to buy into Medicare, with help via new subsidies—an idea the left has craved since President Clinton first pushed for it in the late 1990s.”
Miller continues: “Make no mistake: these changes would bring America at long last into the community of civilized wealthy nations.”
Ah, yes, socialized medicine is upon us.
In the words of Hillary Clinton: “The sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect.”
One hates to burst Mr. Miller’s bubble of euphoria, but his comments bear no resemblance to the realities of the health care situation. Government-run health systems have been unmitigated disasters around the world.
Let’s take Canada for instance, our neighbor to the north.
Why are so many Canadians coming to a country with an uncivilized medical system every year? Especially when the Canadians are light years ahead of us as a civilized wealthy nation?
Mr. Miller bemoans medical bankruptcies, all the while pretending as if people in those other civilized wealthy nations of which he speaks do not take out loans and declare bankruptcy on account of medical bills.
Newsflash: People do take out private loans, mortgage their homes, declare bankruptcy, and even pull their own teeth because government denies them medical treatment in these countries.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently cited questionable medical bankruptcy numbers on the Senate floor. But as Keith Hennessey notes, even if the numbers are accurate that’s no reason to justify a massive transformation of the existing health care system.
Ontario’s Hamilton Spectator ran a series of pieces last month detailing the problems with the health system up north.
Case in point: They tell the story of a teenager named Brandon Taylor who had to contend with the pain of a herniated disc.
The Spectator reports:
The now 22-year-old Hamilton student and his father, Stuart, were told open-back surgery at Brandon's age could be dangerous.
The wait to see a specialist who could help decide treatment was up to a year, they were told. The best the Ontario health system could offer was prescription painkillers.
In August 2007, Stuart Taylor packed up his son and agreed to pay $28,000 in Florida for minimally invasive laser microsurgery. The treatment worked for Brandon, now a fourth-year engineering student at McMaster University.
Brandon’s father remortgaged his house to pay for the $28,000 surgery.
Get this, though – the use of lasers is considered “experimental” in Ontario.
We’re talking about procedures that are relatively routine here in the United States, but out of reach for so many Canadians.
So after the drama of this whole episode, what is the Taylor family doing now?
They are trying to secure reimbursement for the out-of-pocket expenses.
As this article explains, not only do these Canadians have to spend money out pocket to come to the United States for quality medical care, but they have to jump through bureaucratic hoops in a mostly vain attempt to get expenses reimbursed. Some people can afford an attorney to represent them, but many cannot.
Brandon’s father believes the process is an uphill battle that is draining his family emotionally and physically and will end only in loss of their case. He said, "Mentally, I'd love to abandon it because it's dragging me down ... but I can't imagine (doing that) now after all this work."
This is the sort of civilized health care system you can look forward to in Matt Miller’s brave new world.
He explains his giddiness as follows:
“…the emerging bills will deliver what most on the left would have considered a miracle a few years back. Nearly $900 billion will be spent over ten years to achieve near-universal coverage. Insurance companies will never again deny people coverage based on pre-existing conditions. New limits on out-of-pocket costs as a percent of income will mean that no American will ever go bankrupt from medical costs again. And, thanks to the Senate’s Tuesday deal, Americans aged 55 to 64 who lose coverage (and can't find affordable new coverage on their own) would be able to buy into Medicare, with help via new subsidies—an idea the left has craved since President Clinton first pushed for it in the late 1990s.”
Miller continues: “Make no mistake: these changes would bring America at long last into the community of civilized wealthy nations.”
Ah, yes, socialized medicine is upon us.
In the words of Hillary Clinton: “The sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect.”
One hates to burst Mr. Miller’s bubble of euphoria, but his comments bear no resemblance to the realities of the health care situation. Government-run health systems have been unmitigated disasters around the world.
Let’s take Canada for instance, our neighbor to the north.
Why are so many Canadians coming to a country with an uncivilized medical system every year? Especially when the Canadians are light years ahead of us as a civilized wealthy nation?
Mr. Miller bemoans medical bankruptcies, all the while pretending as if people in those other civilized wealthy nations of which he speaks do not take out loans and declare bankruptcy on account of medical bills.
Newsflash: People do take out private loans, mortgage their homes, declare bankruptcy, and even pull their own teeth because government denies them medical treatment in these countries.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently cited questionable medical bankruptcy numbers on the Senate floor. But as Keith Hennessey notes, even if the numbers are accurate that’s no reason to justify a massive transformation of the existing health care system.
Ontario’s Hamilton Spectator ran a series of pieces last month detailing the problems with the health system up north.
Case in point: They tell the story of a teenager named Brandon Taylor who had to contend with the pain of a herniated disc.
The Spectator reports:
The now 22-year-old Hamilton student and his father, Stuart, were told open-back surgery at Brandon's age could be dangerous.
The wait to see a specialist who could help decide treatment was up to a year, they were told. The best the Ontario health system could offer was prescription painkillers.
In August 2007, Stuart Taylor packed up his son and agreed to pay $28,000 in Florida for minimally invasive laser microsurgery. The treatment worked for Brandon, now a fourth-year engineering student at McMaster University.
Brandon’s father remortgaged his house to pay for the $28,000 surgery.
Get this, though – the use of lasers is considered “experimental” in Ontario.
We’re talking about procedures that are relatively routine here in the United States, but out of reach for so many Canadians.
So after the drama of this whole episode, what is the Taylor family doing now?
They are trying to secure reimbursement for the out-of-pocket expenses.
As this article explains, not only do these Canadians have to spend money out pocket to come to the United States for quality medical care, but they have to jump through bureaucratic hoops in a mostly vain attempt to get expenses reimbursed. Some people can afford an attorney to represent them, but many cannot.
Brandon’s father believes the process is an uphill battle that is draining his family emotionally and physically and will end only in loss of their case. He said, "Mentally, I'd love to abandon it because it's dragging me down ... but I can't imagine (doing that) now after all this work."
This is the sort of civilized health care system you can look forward to in Matt Miller’s brave new world.
