While Teh Anointed One ™ and his Demonratic choir sing the praises of socialized medicine, I’d like to point out to those of you who screech about “free” health care that:

a) There ain’t no such aminal, as someone always has to provide it at someone’s expense; and
2) You get what you pay for; otherwise known as TANSTAAFL

Want to see the logical consequence of what they advocate?

Thousands of patients with terminal cancer were dealt a blow last
night after a decision was made to deny them life prolonging drugs.

The
Government’s rationing body said two drugs for advanced breast cancer
and a rare form of stomach cancer were too expensive for the NHS.

The
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is expected to
confirm guidance in the next few weeks that will effectively ban their
use.

Isn’t it wonderful that they get all that nice, free health care in Britain?  Wouldn’t you just love that kind of system here?  Is this the CHANGE you were HOPING for?

Oh, but wait.  The Brits have fallen off the “this is the type of health care we want in America” list?

OK, how about Sweden? Let’s turn to Dr. Walter Williams.

…Sven R. Larson tells about some of Sweden’s problems in “Lesson from
Sweden’s Universal Health System: Tales from the Health-care Crypt,”
published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (Spring 2008). Mr.
D., a Gothenburg multiple sclerosis patient, was prescribed a new drug. His
doctor’s request was denied because the drug was 33 percent more expensive than
the older medicine. Mr. D. offered to pay for the medicine himself but was
prevented from doing so. The bureaucrats said it would set a bad precedent and
lead to unequal access to medicine.

Malmo,
with its 280,000 residents, is Sweden’s third-largest city. To see a physician,
a patient must go to one of two local clinics before they can see a specialist.
The clinics have security guards to keep patients from getting unruly as they
wait hours to see a doctor. The guards also prevent new patients from entering
the clinic when the waiting room is considered full. Uppsala, a city with
200,000 people, has only one specialist in mammography. Sweden’s National
Cancer Foundation reports that in a few years most Swedish women will not have
access to mammography.

Dr.
Olle Stendahl, a professor of medicine at Linkoping University, pointed out a
side effect of government-run medicine: its impact on innovation. He said,
“In our budget-government health care there is no room for curious, young
physicians and other professionals to challenge established views. New knowledge
is not attractive but typically considered a problem (that brings) increased
costs and disturbances in today’s slimmed-down health care.”

Is that the kind of CHANGE you were HOPING for?

Yeah.  I didn’t think so. 

(h/t to the Liberty Sphere for the Walter Williams link, which rocks.  A lot.)

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