Why government-run healthcare is a bad idea

If government-run healthcare was such a good idea, then we could look to other countries who have it in place already and see examples of efficiency, innovation, and a more healthy population.

But here is what we see instead, from Mark Steyn’s book America Alone (pgs. 51-52):

In 2004, Debrah Cornthwaite gave birth to twin boys ath the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton. That’s in Alberta. Mrs. Cornthwaite had begun the big day by going to her local maternity ward at Langley Memorial Hospital. That’s in British Columbia. They told her, yes, your contractions are coming every four minutes, but sorry, we don’t have any beds. And, after they’d checked with the bed-availability helpline, “BC Bedline,” they brought her the further good news that there was not a hospital anywhere in the province in which she could deliver her babies. There followed seven hours of red tape and paperwork. Then, late in the evening, she was driven to the airport and put on a chartered twin-prop to Edmonton. In the course of the flight, the contra ctions increased to every two and a half minutes – and most Lamaze classes don’t teach timing your breathing to turbulence over the Rockies. How many Americans would want to do that on delivery day? You pack your bag and head to your local hospital in Oakland, and they say: Not to worry, we’ve got a bed for you in Denver.

Euro-Canadian socialized health care is, in essence, subsidized by American taxpayers: since the end of World War Two, Washington has assumed the defense costs of its allies, thereby freeing up those countries to spend their revenues on lavish social programs.

The latest Rasmussen poll shows that 55% of Americans surveyed want Obamacare repealed. In fact, every poll the group has conducted since the law passed in March showed a majority of Americans want the law repealed.

26% of those polled thought that Obamacare would lead to the creation of more jobs. Perhaps we should ask the staff at Langley Memorial Hospital how that worked for them. Or anyone in the maternity field in British Columbia for that matter – in a province with over 4 million people, one pregnant mother had to be flown to a hospital 700 miles away.

How is this better for society?