I have the extreme pleasure to visit one of my favorite places, Australia and New Zealand. Alas, this is not a travelogue but social commentary. New Zealand took the steps in 1973 we are contemplating now when they implemented universal health care. So far, I've interviewed nearly a dozen Kiwis and Aussies about how this is working for them. Proponents of a single payer system have told us that there would be no increase in costs, that rationing will not occur and the quality of care would increase.
I this series, we will look at how the last 37 years have worked for the two countries. We will see what promises have been kept and which have been broken; we will not venture into whether the system is good or bad. We will offer some ideas about the value to the societies as a whole.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This, then, is the beginning of a series. Do you have an idea of comparing this system to our own, or is this just reporting about the way those systems are meeting the needs of their people?
ReplyDeleteBoth. Their system has been a part of their lives for nearly two generations and is so ingrained they do not question its legitimacy. They have no doubts about the quality of their healthcare and neither do I.
ReplyDelete