I saw this on the wire earlier - Injured man dies after rejection by 14 hospitals - and I immediately thought "Wow, that isn't the sort of thing that makes the free market look good," and prepared myself to hear about it on the nightly news over and over again. Then I realized the headline was in Tokyo, so I looked up some information on the Japanese Healthcare system.
From the Wikipedia entry on the Japanese Healthcare system -
In the Japanese health care system, healthcare services, including free screening examinations for particular diseases, prenatal care, and infectious disease control, are provided by national and local governments. Payment for personal medical services is offered through a universal health care insurance system that provides relative equality of access, with fees set by a government committee. People without insurance through employers can participate in a national health insurance program administered by local governments. Since 1973, all elderly persons have been covered by government-sponsored insurance. Patients are free to select physicians or facilities of their choice.
In Japan, payment for personal medical services is offered through a universal insurance system that provides relative equality of access, with fees set by a government committee. People without insurance through employers can participate in a national health insurance program administered by local governments. Since 1973, all elderly persons have been covered by government-sponsored insurance. Patients are free to select physicians or facilities of their choice. In the early 1990s, there were more than 1,000 mental hospitals, 8,700 general hospitals, and 1,000 comprehensive hospitals with a total capacity of 1.5 million beds. Hospitals provided both out-patient and in-patient care. In addition, 79,000 clinics offered primarily out-patient services, and there were 48,000 dental clinics. Most hospitals sell medicine directly to patients, but there are 36,000 pharmacies where patients could purchase synthetic or herbal medication.
Socialist systems do sound so great on paper. Like a utopia. Like a place where this could never happen-
A 69-year-old Japanese man injured in a traffic accident died after paramedics spent more than an hour negotiating with 14 hospitals before one admitted him, a fire department official said Wednesday.
The man, whose bicycle collided with a motorcycle in the western city of Itami, waited at the scene in an ambulance because the hospitals said they could not accept him, citing a lack of specialists, equipment, beds and staff, according to Mitsuhisa Ikemoto. One of the 14 finally admitted the man when the paramedics called it for a second time.
It was the latest in a string of recent cases in Japan in which patients were denied treatment, underscoring the country's health care woes that include a shortage of doctors.
We know where socialism ends up, but the Obama plan takes US right down this same road and jackasses like this will help him. When will the American people wake up and smell the coffee?
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