England? The country's socialist Labor Party now favors privatization and expects, within two years, to triple the number of private-sector surgical procedures.
France? Nearly 13,000 people died in the summer of 2003. Why? The number suffering from the heat so overwhelmed the French health-care system that hospitals simply stopped answering their phones and ambulance attendants told people to take care of themselves. The majority of the 13,000 died from simple dehydration.
To address the "crisis" of the medically uninsured, Moore follows down the same dreary path of those who wish to improve America's education -- ignoring the benefits of competition. Why, for example, do elective medical procedures -- those not covered by health-care insurance -- become increasingly affordable? Cosmetic surgery procedures, nose jobs, breast implants, hair grafts, facelifts and vision-corrective eye surgery steadily decline in price.
Stifling regulations, price controls and outright attacks on free market medicine make things worse. A decade ago, an entrepreneur who operates a for-profit medical school in the Caribbean island of Dominica attempted to build one in America. He scouted the country and figured that Wyoming's doctor shortage created ideal conditions for a for-profit medical school. Compared to the national average of one doctor for every 441 people, Wyoming had only one doctor for every 642 people.
But local doctors pounded the table, warning that the medical school would produce unqualified doctors. Never mind that 92 percent of students graduating from his off-shore medical school passed their U.S. basic level tests on their first try, a slightly higher rate than the U.S. and Canadian average. Wyoming doctors and the national accrediting agency for medical schools successfully fought the proposed school.
If you consider our current health-care system "Sicko," just wait until Dr. Moore takes charge. |