We Should Learn From Europe: Government-Run Health Care Doesn’t Work

Einstein is oft-quoted as having said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Barack Obama, unfortunately, wants to do what many countries in Europe have done on health care. Only Obama is telling us it will be different in America.
Trust me. It won’t be different.

Last week, Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised that patients unable to see cancer experts within two weeks would get cash to pay for private care. Brown had previously argued against paying for private providers and some say the reversal may be a gimmick to boost his sagging popularity.
More serious problems in Britain’s health care were reported last month, when cancer researchers announced that as many as 15,000 people over age 75 were dying prematurely from cancer every year. Experts said those deaths could have been avoided if those patients had been diagnosed and treated earlier.
“There is nothing inherently different about cancer in the U.S. and Britain to explain why more people are dying here,” said Dr. Karol Sikora, of Cancer Partners UK.
The U.S. already spends the most worldwide on health care. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the U.S. spent $7,290 per person in 2007, while Britain spent $2,992 and France spent $3,601.
Still, experts say that before committing the U.S. to footing the bill for universal health care, Obama should consider it has cost Europe.
A World Health Organization survey in 2000 found that France had the world’s best health system. But that has come at a high price; health budgets have been in the red since 1988.
In 1996, France introduced targets for health insurance spending. But a decade later, the deficit had doubled to 49 billion euros ($69 billion).
“I would warn Americans that once the government gets its nose into health care, it’s hard to stop the dangerous effects later,” said Valentin Petkantchin, of the Institut Economique Molinari in France. He said many private providers have been pushed out, forcing a dependence on an overstretched public system.

When government gets involved in health care we get spending deficits. We get sky-high taxes. And we get rationing of care. Period. It happens every single time it’s tried, and while Obama wants us to believe that it would all be different with his approach, he’s lying. He just wants to get his foot in the door and create a massive new program we cannot afford and won’t ever be able to get rid of once instituted.
Government health care needs to be taken off the table.
What really bothers me about the article quoted above is that it says that Europe has “free” health care. I think most European taxpayers would dispute the idea that the health care is “free.” They’re paying for it, and then some.
Remember that European nations don’t see near the sort of economic growth America does, and their unemployment rates are routinely in the double digits. That’s no coincidence. Their government health care programs are a drain on their nations’ economies.
Just as it would be a drain on our economy. One we can ill afford.