-By Warner Todd Huston
Who better to inform us of how wonderful a socialistic healthcare system is than one who ran the very hospitals enmeshed in such a system? Well, the Wall Street Journal gave some space to just such a fellow in its August 12 edition.
Alan B. Miller’s piece in the Journal is enlightening and a bit scary, honestly. He assures us that “we don’t want to go the government route” and be foolish enough to institute Obamacare. And Miller should know, too, as he is the chairman and CEO of Universal Health Services Inc., a company responsible for running some of Britain’s hospitals. As we know, Britain has a nationalized healthcare system and has since just after WWII.
A single-payer system may appear attractive to some. But as someone with more than 30 years of experience running a leading hospital company with international operations, I have firsthand knowledge of the hidden costs.
Miller reminds us that Medicare does not fully reimburse hospitals for costs incurred by its patients leave 7 cents on every dollar unpaid. He then says that the reason Medicare “works” to the degree it does — while still a failing concern — is because the hospitals rely on those with private insurance to make up the loss incurred by Medicare. But if the whole system becomes a government owned enterprise we will have major problems; chiefly rationing and cuts in service.
If hospitals had to rely solely on Medicare reimbursements for operating revenue, as would occur under a single-payer system, many hospitals would be forced to eliminate services, cut investments in advanced medical technology, reduce the number of nurses and other employees, and provide less care for the patients they serve. And with the government in control, Americans eventually will see rationing, the denial of high-priced drugs and sophisticated procedures, and long waits for care.
Miller then points to his experience of precisely that situation in England.
He warns us not to emulate the mess that has happened in Canada and England. Let’s hope people are listening to actual experience.
____________
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as NewsBusters.org, RightWingNews.com, StoptheACLU.com, TheRealityCheck.org, RedState.com, Human Events Magazine, AmericanDailyReview.com, and the New Media Journal, among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events and is currently the co-host of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Conservatism” heard on BlogTalkRadio. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of PubliusForum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
Fair Use: This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in my efforts to advance understanding of political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research, educational, or satirical purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site/blog for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.