Michael Moore and socialized medicine

[maxtower]

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Socialized health care would only benefit those who don't have any health care today (the poor). Everyone else (the majority) will see substantial decreases in quality and availability of their care once their employers stop buying coverage, which they would under a socialized system. Wages would not likely rise much in this scenario, but taxes most definitely will. So everyone who has a real job today will get less pay and worse health care.

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This statement implies that US citizens are presumably receiving much better quality health care than people in any of the socialized systems used in other countries like Canada, Sweden, and just about every other western country. I don't think that's true. That's not to say the socialized systems don't have their own problems, but they're not exactly trainwrecks compared to the US system either. In many ways they're better. Saying they're not is arrogant and shortsighted, in that we're refusing to think the US, with our perfect system, could possibly learn anything from how it's done elswehere.

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Our system certainly isn't perfect, but what I see as a difference between our system and theirs is about 10% in taxes required to pay for health care. How are they going to sustain that model when their aging non-productive retiree population gets older and more expensive to support while the working class continues to shrink?