From: Mario Goveia <mgov...@sbcglobal.net> "In the meantime, life in the US is terrible and racist. Millions are not covered by health insurance. Millions are dying in the streets writhing in pain while others pass them by without compassion. The life expectancy is plummeting." --- I am quite surprised that Mario would change in views of the US in such a short time. It does not make sense for such drastic changes to take place in a matter of just 7 months of the Obama presidency.. but then again, this is the same Mario who has in the past advocated the claim of Global Cooling, or more recently claimed that the Pope supports socialism or that the late John Paul sympathized with 911 attackers because of his opposition to the Iraq war.
From: Mario Goveia <mgov...@sbcglobal.net> We have a saying in America, "You get what you pay for." The best never comes cheap, and the best does not involve waiting in line for a medical procedure or test when your life may be in jeopardy, or suffering excruciating pain because some government bureaucrat says so. --- That is very true. Or as my Professor used to say, if someone is offering you something for "free", you better watch out. The problem with the above statement is that Americans want the best, but don't have the means to pay for it. Furthermore, those who are currently beneficiaries of this unsustainable system, quite logically fear that any changes would mean a significant reduction of their benefits. Mario, who so vocally opposes socialized medicine is one of its biggest beneficiary via the Medicare system. He is (logically) opposed to sharing his socialized benefits with those who do not have access to this. Unless services are cut, or taxes increased (after all you get what you pay for, right?), Medicare is accumulating trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities. Other forms of implicit socialization of its medical care is that government diktat requires that hospitals provide expensive emergency care to the uninsured population. Unless Mario thinks that money grows on trees, or believes in ponzi schemes, someone has to pay for these costs. The current socialized system does not penalize its selective beneficiaries for their unhealthy lifestyles. Cardio related issues, most often due to unhealthy diets, being over weight etc is one of the biggest costs to the medical system. Unfortunately, this socialized system, does not penalize such individuals who are already in the "system" for their unhealthy choices. I recall, Mario himself admitting to being overweight. So here we have a case of a person who shrieks against socialized medicine, while attempting to exempt himself from the rules he wishes to set for others!! Contrary to Mario's claim that the socialized system in the US is functioning fine, the facts speak otherwise. On a per capita basis, the US spends around 40-60% more than the OECD average, but yet, ranks near the bottom as far as various health metrics are concerned. Clearly the current path of socialized medicine that the US is taking is not sustainable. My preferred path would be to have a solely private system with basic socialized coverage for children and the handicapped only. I also do not support free health care for the aged. Higher premiums should be expected for older people - that is an expected cost of getting older and should be factored in by individuals during their working years. Obviously, insurance companies should not have the right to terminate pre-existing medical coverage after a certain age. Marlon
