Rpruett said:
Additionally, the United States is very hard to compare to small-sized European nations for a variety of reasons. Americans lifestyle choices, General Land Mass Size, Best 'emergency' services in the world, American culture. Some other things to consider would be a much larger sheer amount of eldery (Even if the percentages are comparable) when this is mixed in with the above factors such as Lifestyle, Distance. You have an unhealthier population of eldery. And while it is advertised as all well and good everywhere that Universal healthcare systems exist elsewhere are not all roses and perfection. Doctors in Germany have talked about striking, they've increased costs due to budget issues and a wide array of issues. One of the primary factors for their cheaper healthcare is the amount they pay their doctors. The problem with that is inevitably it takes the motivation from practicing medicine in Germany. Other places (Like Canada) getting simple treatments can take a lot longer than it would in the United States. |
I'm not going to pretend that socialised medicine would suddenly cure all of Americas ills or that it works perfectly everywhere and every time its implemented - I'm just pointing out that socialized medicine isn't an idea that by its very nature will bankrupt a nation.
It also seems to me that Americas current system is broken and costing the nation far too much - that high a percentage of GDP should not be spent on healthcare.