Another Horror Story about Government-Run Healthcare that Can’t Possibly Be True

Paul Krugman has told us that awful stories about government-run healthcare in Britain “are false.”

I guess this means that the media must be dominated by conservative liars, since we keep getting reports about substandard care and needless deaths (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here).

And the Boston Globe and Associated Press must be part of this vast right-wing conspiracy, because the Globe just ran an AP report exposing more problems in England. Here is an excerpt.

When David Evans needed a hernia operation, the 69-year-old farmer became so alarmed by the long wait that he used an ultrasound machine for pregnant sheep on himself, to make sure he wasn’t getting worse. It was only after repeated calls from himself, his doctor and his local member of parliament that the hospital performed the surgery, nearly a year after it was first requested. Under government guidelines, he should have started getting treatment within 18 weeks. “I was in quite a lot of pain,’’ Evans said of his ordeal in Cornwall, southwest England. “It really restricted what I could do around the farm since I couldn’t lift anything heavy.’’ Across Britain, an increasing number of patients like Evans are facing more pain and longer waits.

The deep flaws in the British system, by the way, do not imply that the American system is ideal. As I’ve explained, the U.S. system also is heavily dominated by government, causing a massive third-party payer problem.

(h/t: Reason)

Government Insiders Rip Off Taxpayers…Again

I’ve written many times about politicians and bureaucrats screwing taxpayers with lavish compensation packages, but this story from Philadelphia is jaw dropping.

Councilwoman Marian B. Tasco is retiring Friday, but only so she can collect a $478,057 pension check and return to work Monday, when she will be sworn in for her seventh term. Tasco was one of six Council members to enroll in the city’s controversial Deferred Retirement Option Plan, better known as DROP. She did not immediately return a request for comment. …When DROP was introduced during the Rendell administration, it was thought that it would cost little or nothing. But a study by the administration of Mayor Nutter said DROP had cost the city $258 million over 10 years.

Remember stories like this every time ones of these reprehensible politicians claim that spending has been cut to the bone and taxes have to be raised.

Dan Mitchell

Wow, I’ve never been to a Saks 5th Ave in my life!

Perhaps you are just the kind of person who DOESN’T get treated like a lesser person in these stores, because they don’t see you that way. Maybe it’s people like me. You never know.

Either way, I’ll shop at Walmart. You can keep the mall stores.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16337904

The BBC site runs many stories about what’s becoming a “two-tier” National Health Service (NHS). This means more privately paid-for care...(apparently anyone who can afford to do so is opting out of NHS).

Last week I read that those over 75 no longer get joint replacements and cataract surgeries unless they can pay themselves. We could argue all day about whether government SHOULD pay for health care; nevertheless dropping essential services to patients who have counted on NHS all their lives is rather nasty.

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