A conversation with...............

...... (10.00 / 4)

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by: Diane G @ Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 13:00:12 PM UTC

this is awesome (5.00 / 1)

well done!

the news will be up at 10.

see ya around ;)

"From where Winston stood it was just possible to read, picked out on its white face in elegant lettering, the three slogans of the Party:
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH."
Orwell-1984

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by: M_A @ Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 13:21:38 PM UTC

working this am (0.00 / 0)

but look forward to it... maybe you'll feel good enough to join us tonite too... next week we are taking a holiday hiatus.

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by: Diane G @ Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 13:48:56 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It sounds like something Patti Smith would go off on during (5.00 / 1)

an extended version of Radio Baghdad.  Awesome!  

Obama is a war criminal and should be in leg irons in front of the International Court of Justice...not receiving a Nobel Peace Prize

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by: Elián Maricón @ Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 14:08:34 PM UTC

You asked.... (11.00 / 1)

What countries on our good green Earth provide some sort of universal health care for their citizens? Here they are:

Click to enlarge

Countries in blue have some type of universal health care. Countries in green are currently attempting to implement some type of universal health care. Orange countries have universal health coverage provided by United States war funding.

Afghanistan*, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iraq*, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and the United Kingdom

The basics

Types of universal health care

Universal health care is a broad concept and has been implemented in several ways. These implementations tend to differ primarily in their socialistic or capitalistic construction; for example, a system where health care is paid for by private insurance companies is capitalism, while a system where the government pays for health care through taxation would be socialism.

The Health Care System in Canada is a universal system, though some services are not covered. While often called a socialized-public system it is in fact merely publicly funded. Most services are provided by private enterprises which act as contractors, billing the government for patient care.

Single-payer health care

Single-payer health care is a system whereby one party, usually the government, pays for the health care of everyone. In practice this means that the government collects taxes from the public, businesses, etc., creates an entity to administer the supply of health care and then pays health care professionals â€" in effect this would replace the myriad of health care companies with just one government provider.

Hybrid health care

Universal health care can be implemented without having the government pay for it in full, as in single-payer health care. Hybrid health care models emerged from efforts to reconcile the drive for expanded access and the drive against rising health care prices. This model is geared towards getting past the dichotomies that have stymied universal health care efforts, such as whether the state or federal governments should take the lead, whether the primary jurisdiction for negotiating health care should be at the market or government level and whether health care is more of an individual or societal responsibility.

Private universal health care

After governments mandate universal health care, they are often forced to supply at least some of that health care. One alternative is to deregulate the industry, and allow the principles of a free market keep costs down and encourage efficiency and innovation.

In short, universal health care can, in theory, be implemented without wealth redistribution. In actuality no such system has ever existed and all universal coverage systems require substantial government taxes and wealth redistribution. For example, if the government mandates universal health care, instead of trying to control and ration health care, they could simply enact a law whereby each person must have health insurance. People would pay for their own health insurance or find other ways of obtaining coverage, such as through employment. In practice public assistance would have to be given to those who cannot afford the cost of health care.

Funding of universal health care systems

Most European systems are financed through a mix of public and private contributions. The majority of universal health care systems are funded primarily by tax revenue (e.g. Portugal). Some nations, such as Germany, France and Japan employ a multi-payer system in which health care is funded by private and public contributions.

"Single-payer" describes a type of financing system in which a single entity, typically a government-run organization, acts as the administrator (or "payer") to collect all health care fees, and pay out all health care costs. Some advocates of universal health care assert that single-payer systems save money that could be used directly towards health care by reducing administrative waste. For instance, according to the Drum Major Institute, a public policy, non-profit organization founded by Harry Wachtel, lawyer and advisor to Martin Luther King Jr., the estimated amount the U.S. would save each year on paperwork if it adopted single-payer health care is $161 billion. Denmark, Sweden, and Canada are some of the countries that currently employ single-payer financing of health care.

A distinction is also made between municipal and national healthcare funding. For example, one model is that the bulk of the healthcare is funded by the municipality, speciality healthcare is provided and possibly funded by a larger entity, such as a municipal co-operation board or the state, and the medications are paid by a state agency.

Here's a brief comparison and longer discussion at denialism blog

 

1. the US is a non-universal patchwork of public and private spending, drugs and procedures may be subsidized by insurance

  2. the UK is completely single-payer with private care as an option, all drugs and procedures are paid for

  3. Canada is single-payer with provinces deciding how health care is spent and strict limits on private care, prescription drugs are heavily subsidized,

  4. Australia has a public baseline access to physicians with subsidization of private insurance and option of private care, prescription drugs are heavily subsidized,

  5. New Zealand has universal public health care, primary care and prescription drugs are subsidized with some cost sharing, and private care is an option

  6. the Netherlands has a system of obligatory private health insurance (like a nationwide Massachusetts system), premiums have a flat rate for all citizens, with subsidies for poorer people who can't afford insurance premiums. Individuals pay for about half, and employers pay for about half, with government making up the difference.

  7. Germany has a system of mandatory insurance with purchase of access to one of several hundred "sickness funds" paid for by employers, there is a private option for those who afford it, and those who cannot or are unemployed are subsidized by government.

The difference is that on the "left" there isn't much of a "left," and hasn't been much of a "left" left since the late 1960s.

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by: Louise @ Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 18:27:54 PM UTC