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:49819 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.
"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical." -- Thomas Jefferson
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.
On January 3, 2011 the GOP assumes responsibility for deficit spending.
Doesn't everybody know polls and lists are worthless because they are easily skewed to achieve desired results?
Well, [war's] got to do something for attention, his multiple personalities aren't speaking to him any more, and his imaginary friends keep finding excuses not to come over. (Murron)
not that I know of, but given this is a Conservative Heritage Foundation list, I guess they don't correlate gun rights with economic freedom. Maybe you can complain to them?
On January 3, 2011 the GOP assumes responsibility for deficit spending.
We measure ten components of economic freedom, assigning a grade in each using a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 represents the maximum freedom. The ten component scores are then averaged to give an overall economic freedom score for each country. The ten components of economic freedom are:
Business Freedom | Trade Freedom | Fiscal Freedom | Government Spending | Monetary Freedom | Investment Freedom | Financial Freedom | Property rights | Freedom from Corruption | Labor Freedom
On January 3, 2011 the GOP assumes responsibility for deficit spending.
Or is it the spandex "ironman" sports bra that's got you spittin again?
BBBBWWWAAAAHHHAAA!!!!
Death to everybody who does not get outta my way. No more need for famous Dwarfisms due to his journey to the land of irrelevance:):)....until his banning I'll leave the Jerxism up... To: e_type_jag (#1) "I hate that you're off the plantation" 9-03-2010 Sheets Jerx .........(Why Fred???why the hate???....was it because my left Vibram sole made a lasting imprint on your face as I stepped over your constantly prone body and hopped the plantation wall .....:):)
Public hospitals have strict means testing with subsidies ranging from 40% to 80% of the bill for the poor.
Anyone can use the public hospitals (owned and operated by the government) and most do because the cost is lower. Government health care delivery competes with the private sector and acts as a control on prices.
No one has the kind of Utopian government run system that the American left dreams about.
The US ranks 37th. Certainly we can do better than that.
Sixty-two percent of bankruptcies in the US have a medical cause according to The American Journal of Medicine.
Medical bankruptcy does not exist in countries with universal health coverage like Japan, Canada, Great Britain, Taiwan, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Finland, and France, just to name a quick dozen.33; But, here in the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world, medical debt forces many people into bankruptcy.
The "Utopia" you claim the left dreams of has been achieved in all first world countries where people don't have to chose between health care and bankruptcy.
Adding comments in brackets to article titles? It's always been allowed everywhere I've ever posted.
Making up one fake title? Well, you do it all the time so I'm just following your lead to see what you'd do. Since it was a change you approved of, you did nothing, like I thought you would.
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.
"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical." -- Thomas Jefferson