Anthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA@DrDiGiorgio
This is the ultimate midwit healthcare take.
No, 32 countries have not “figured out” universal healthcare.
The UK has “free” healthcare, and roughly 1 in 3 cancer patients in England still fail to start treatment within 62 days of urgent referral.
Canada has “free” healthcare, and the median wait for neurosurgical treatment is around a year.
Australia has “free” healthcare, and over half the country still buys private insurance despite paying for a public universal system with their taxes.
Switzerland has universal coverage, because residents are required to buy private insurance. There is no government system where benevolent bureaucrats tuck you in at night with a warm blanket and an MRI appointment.
The actual lesson from other wealthy countries is not “they figured it out.”
America’s system has huge problems. Our prices are insane, insurance markets are distorted, and hospital systems are cartelized. Our regulations make care more expensive than it needs to be.
Yet we still guarantee access to even the 8% who don’t have coverage. We give easy routes to qualify for medicaid for those with disabilities.
Pretending the rest of the world solved healthcare because they slapped the word “universal” on a rationing scheme is not analysis.
It is bumper sticker policy for people who think access means having a card in your wallet while you wait a year to see the doctor you need.
