Title: 2010 Freedom Index -- Canada more Free than U.S. Source:
Heritage Foundation URL Source:http://www.heritage.org/index/Ranking.aspx Published:Oct 22, 2010 Author:staff Post Date:2010-10-22 17:46:19 by jwpegler Keywords:None Views:49708 Comments:100
15 freest countries:
Hong Kong
89.7
Singapore
86.1
Australia
82.6
New Zealand
82.1
Ireland
81.3
Switzerland
81.1
Canada
80.4
United States
78.0
Denmark
77.9
Chile
77.2
United Kingdom
76.5
Mauritius
76.3
Bahrain
76.3
Luxombourg
75.4
Netherlands
75.0
U.S. drops from "free" to "mostly free". As usual, Hong Kong and Singapore are on top.
don't all the countries on that list, except the U.S., have universal health insurance?
It depends on what you mean by that. They all have very different systems. Most of these countries have some mix of public and private, that includes some form of mandates on minimum coverage. For example:
New Zealand recently moved from a fully public system to a mixed public / private system. Everyone gets catastrophic insurance paid for by taxes that covers "accidents". Most incidental medical costs (like visits to general or family practitioners) are paid out of pocket.
Singapore also has a mixed private / public system, but it is all based on mandatory individual medical savings accounts. You have to save 8% and buy a catastrophic plan. You can use whatever is left over to pay incidental medical costs. Public hospitals have strict means testing with subsidies ranging from 40% to 80% of the bill for the poor.
Switzerland also has a mixed private / public system. The government mandates that everyone buy a basic health insurance plan. If basic insurance plan cost more than 8% of your income, the government will provide a cash subsidy to cover the rest. You can buy additional coverage if you'd like and also pay fees that aren't covered out of pocket.
Hong Kong also has a mixed private / public system. Users of government hospitals complain of long waiting times, an indifferent service attitude and lack of choice, while those who go to the private sector face high costs and variable service quality. The government just announced it will increase spending in an attempt to reduce wait times in public facilities.
I can go on and on with this.
No one has the kind of Utopian government run system that the American left dreams about.
No one has the kind of Utopian government run system that the American left dreams about.
Nope, but none have apparently lost their freedom despite various universal health care programs as the right argues will happen here.
I think people lose sight of the fact that universal health insurance means more freedom - think about how many are afraid to leave their jobs or pursue a start-up business because of fear of losing their insurance.
I think people lose sight of the fact that universal health insurance means more freedom
Again, I support something like the Singapore system.
A.) Everybody has to save at least 8% of their income. They can use the money to buy catastrophic insurance, pay for incidental medical expenses, or both.
B.) If you don't earn enough to buy insurance, the government will subsidize your savings. This would replace Medicaid.
C.) Healthcare providers must publish prices and outcomes.
D.) Eliminate state laws which restrict competition in providing health insurance.
That program would work here. Everyone would have coverage (that they buy themselves) for catastrophic conditions. They have to pay out of pocket for everything else, which would force prices down. It's what Switzerland, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and many other countries do. America has gone in the opposite direction over the last 50 years, which is why our system is so screwed up. Obamacare is more of the same bad policies, which is one reason prices are already escalating.
