Let’s talk about health care. You know I’m happy with the care I receive here in British Columbia; I don’t think the system’s perfect, but I’ve had no major complaints about it, and it compares favorably against the care I got when I lived in the U.S. But I don’t want to talk about my personal experience.
I have a nagging knot in my gut that tightens the more I read about the state of “debate” on health-care reform south of the border. In an attempt to untie it, I’m confessing the following:
I think it’s wrong—capital-W, amoral Wrong—to deny society’s responsibility to take care of its members. It’s not an issue of whether you’ve pulled yourself up by your dead-horse bootstraps, it’s not an issue that’s in any way related to killing old people or the infirm, and it certainly shouldn’t be an issue that’s even remotely related to corporate interests.
Most countries of the developed world spend less per capita on health care than the U.S. does and provide coverage to all citizens. Decent coverage.
Given all these things, I don’t understand why people oppose universal health coverage so vehemently. Please tell me why.
(If necessary, I’ll moderate comments that don’t contribute to productive discussion. But I’m sure I won’t have to.)
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