Originally posted by djs:
Lawrence,
....A reasonable issue for a society to consider is how much advantage a person should have by accident of birth, or conversely, what community action should be taken to mitigate disadvantages. Similarly, before the grave, therapy for certain types of illnesses is enormously expensive - far beyond the reach of most individuals. Should resources be pooled to mitigate the individual costs of such catastrophes? Should all people in the country be included in such pooling? These are among the issues of interest that are answered somewhat differently from us in "those European countries". You are, IMO, misinformed about what people in those countries "expect".
BRAVO !
Your response to Laurence is a very mature 21st century Christian view shared by not only Europeans but Canadians also, particularly in regards to social medicine.
When socialized medicine was originally implemented in the late 60's in Canada it was meant to cover 'catastrophic illness' and 'preventative medicine for children'.
Example 1: Catastrophic illness:
A relatively young mother of a familly of 5 falls ill with cancer and requires months if not years of costly treatment before she finally dies. The widower is left with three young children and a huge debt. It would be a matter of time before the 'debt' and 'loss of one parent' issues would compound on each other and more than likely cause serious and permanent harm to each member of the familly.
As djs said by pooling the missfortune of this familly with the good fortune of others, the medical debt can be absorbed by their "neighboors". This gives the now 'motherless familly' a fighting chance. Sounds pretty Christian to me.
Example 2: Preventative Medicine for Children
As djs mentioned, children do not have control over whom will rear them. But the government (Christian neighboors) can help give all children an equal start in life not only through a guarantee of education but also for preventative medicine. For example; the children can be immunized. Again, by investing a small amount at an early stage in a child's life (when the child has little control over their own fate) we can sow the seeds of good health in adulthood. Sounds pretty Christian to me.
The system was eventually expanded to include more comprehensive medical care for all people, chidren and adults. Still sounds pretty Christian to me.
I know ! - I know ! Now come all of the "but we heard they have such big lines for this kind of surgery, and you can't find a doctor when you need one, and....." Well now for the bad part:(
The problems the 'free Medicaire' system has nothing to do with good Christian behaviour, but more to do with immorality on the part of people who abuse the system.
Immoral patients who are also voters demanded more and more services from the elected officials, services which they could do without but 'demand what is their right !'. By the late 1980's when the system was totally out of control, provinces such as Alberta were paying 80 - 90% of cosmetic surgery costs (you know - a nose job for example).
Immoral doctors who would 'pad' their billing with extras not because they were actually administered but because 'the deserve more money.
Immoral health care bureaucrats who created layers upon layers of administrative procedures so that they could 'guarantee themselves a job for life' (and a nice big pension too !).
Immoral pharmaceutical and medical supply companies began to gauge the 'system' because they wanted to increase their year end profits and make record bonuses so they could buy the winter condo in Florida.
The immoral politicians who kept borrowing and borrowing and borrowing and borrowing and borrowing and borrowing ........to make their constituents 'happy' and thus get themselves re-elected (with very very big pensions).
So what started as a good modern Christian approach to brotherly love for ones neighboor turned into an economic catastrophy. By the late 1990's, 30 years after 'free Medicaire' was adopted, 'medical meldown' occured - which I'm sure you have heard of.
The good news is that the Christians are winning again. After a dozen or so years of clearing the immorality from the system, it looks like things are finaly picking up. Prices have stabilized for drugs (hence why they are cheaper in Canada), health care workers have been paid fairer wages, administration has been trimed to a resonable level, and the politicians have stopped borrowing and have actually started reducing debt.
I believe that the Christians will win and 'universal healthcare' will become a reality here too for the reasons djs mentioned. The tricky part is how to do it without all the immorality Canadians experienced over the decades.
