Bad ideas are notoriously hard to kill. Nowhere is this perverse law of nature better illustrated than in the continued survival of socialized medicine as a perceived cure for the ills of American health care. This profoundly bad idea has been repeatedly interred under tons of damning factual data only to rise again like one […]
The de rigueur euphemism for socialized medicine is, of course, “universal health care.” The effectiveness with which this term has been deployed can be measured by the ever increasing percentage of Americans who declare themselves in favor of a government takeover of the health care system. The electorate, having been convinced that our delivery system […]
The Canadian health care system is often held up by advocates of socialized medicine as a paragon of low-cost efficiency. For actual patients in need of care, however, the reality is considerably less rosy. Indeed, if one measures “efficiency” in terms of quick and easy access to services, the Canadian system is useful only as […]
One of the most persistent myths concerning our health care system involves the notion that medical bills are forcing huge numbers of ordinary middle class Americans into bankruptcy. This particular brand of BS has been promulgated not only by sloppy journalism, but by politicians who advocate a government takeover of American health care. Barack Obama, […]
Now that the 2008 presidential contest is getting under way, the various candidates are vying for ownership of the resurgent cause of health care reform. The latest entrant in this contest is John Edwards, whose plan was released on February 5. This proposal contains so much BS it is difficult to know where to begin […]
The AP Style Book evidently requires any piece of journalism about health care to use the word “uninsured” in close juxtaposition with an implicit suggestion that millions of Americans are effectively barred from medical treatment. Otherwise, it is difficult to explain the lockstep consistency with which journalists and pundits adhere to this formula.
The general effect […]
In the midst of an otherwise sensible Washington Post item about the disconnect between real and perceived costs in our health care system, Robert Samuelson gratuitously inserts the observation that the uninsured don’t use emergency rooms any more heavily than do patients with private insurance.
This is a well-worn talking point among advocates of “universal health […]
