Few Americans look forward to going to the doctor or dentist. We usually have to wait an hour or so, thumbing through outdated magazines, for the privilege of being poked and prodded. What could be worse? Well, try not being able to see a doctor or dentist for months.
Americans are about to spend a hot summer listening to complaints about how bad our health-care system is. “Documentarian” Michael Moore is back with “Sicko,” a film that purports to explain the evils of the American health system.
He claims other countries provide citizens better health care. Of course, it’s all free, provided by a benevolent government, “just like we have our government provide police and fire and libraries and schools,” Moore says.
But here’s the dirty little secret Moore won’t be put on the big screen: We get what we pay for.
Americans may spend more on health care (15.3 percent of GDP in 2004) than people in other countries, but we get more care. American doctors perform more life-saving open-heart surgery than doctors in other countries. We boast more MRI machines than any nation except Japan. We focus on preventative care. And so on.
Canadians have the sort of socialist, government-provided care Moore wants. Yet a Canadian government report recently noted, “American women aged 50–69 were more likely than Canadian women of the same age to have had a recent mammogram.” In fact, “82 percent of American women aged 50–69 had a mammogram in the last two years, compared to 74 percent of Canadian women in the same age group.”
That’s the sort of care that catches problems early, while there’s still time to take action and save lives.
Our health-care system has flaws, but it works. Compare that with the socialized care our cousins in Britain “enjoy.” In his book “After the Victorians,” A.N. Wilson attempted to laud the formation of Britain’s National Health Service, calling it “one of the most stupendous British inventions.” Yet, he admits, “as soon as it was started, it was in a state of ‘crisis,’ and it has been in a state of crisis ever since.”
So why does Wilson think the NHS was a good creation? Apparently because it was started with the best of intentions.