As we move forward toward centralized bureaucratic health care control, it is worth noting the problems in countries that already have it. Ireland is apparently paying surgeons to do nothing, while surgeries are canceled because the department is over budged, and the lines grow ever longer. From the story:
Three Irish surgeons have revealed that they are being paid a whopping $350,000 to do nothing. The three orthopedic consultants at Letterkenny General HospitalCounty Donegal have revealed that the Irish Health Service is paying them to “sit around doing nothing” while operating theaters are empty. Senior consultant and team leader, Peter O’Rourke said he is “frustrated and depressed” about the current working climate in Letterkenny General Hospital. The surgeon claims there is little or no work for his team in the busy hospital despite massive waiting lists for essential knee and hip surgeries known as elective surgeries. The health service has put such surgeries on hold until next year as the “elective” budget has overrun by $3.3 million.
That’s the way bureaucracy and centralized control works, and it is heading our way. The good news, is that there is still time to stop this train. Indeed, more and more people are jumping off.
On a related note, I have a friend in Canada who experienced minor stroke symptoms three weeks ago. He is still waiting for an MRI.
November 8th, 2009 | 3:03 pm
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November 8th, 2009 | 3:03 pm
Ireland? Canada? The U.K.? Where next; Pakistan? None of it has anything to do with American health care reform. It’s just more of the same old BS scare tactics from Republicans who seem duty-bound to pander to the insurance industry.
November 8th, 2009 | 5:16 pm
“On a related note, I have a friend in Canada who experienced minor stroke symptoms three weeks ago. He is still waiting for an MRI”
Too bad he isn’t here in the US; he could buy a policy from Blue Cross, pay the premiums for years, then be told that his condition is not covered because he misspelled “hernia” on his application.
Or his treatment is “experimental”;
Or have his policy “rescinded”;
But yes, nothing compares to the horror of waiting a few weeks for an MRI.
Wesley J. Smith Reply:
November 8th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Wow, socialized medicine proponents are all heart. It is very hard waiting weeks for an MRI when you have had serious neurological symptoms. Very hard. And if he were, here and had such symptoms, chances are he would receive imaging very quickly–whether he needed it or not.
Your example is garbage, of course. But here’s the thing: When insurance companies try to turn down righteous claims, lawyers and regulators will work against them. If the government turns down or delays treatment, there is no one to defend you. You are stuck with what the bureaucrats tell you. Oh yes, there are appeals. They take forever. Try appealing a Vet. Adm. benefit decision.
November 8th, 2009 | 9:58 pm
Wesley: Insurance company abuses continue to be both numerous and egregious. Sure, go ahead and sue Blue Cross or Prudential. All you have to do is cough up a few thousand bucks to have a lawyer tackle the insurance company’s high-end law firm(s), and then wait a few years for the case to come to trial. Your creditors won’t be nearly as patient if you end up going into debt to pay on your own for services your insurer should have provided. Really now, if policyholder remedies were so readily available do you think insurers would continue their abuses?
But that’s the Republican way, I guess. It’s the same mindset that says the guy who’s making the minimum wage doesn’t need a union to interfere with his God-given right to negotiate his salary with his employer. Sure thing. Tell me another one.
November 9th, 2009 | 11:36 am
Wow. The “Free Healthcare” folks are out in force this week.
1. Ignore real examples of how socialized medicine doesn’t work. Check!
2. Ignore or minimize the inconvenient fact that you can sue your insurance carrier but you can’t realistically sue the Feds. Check!
Just another little tidbit for the pro-socialized medicine forces: the number one denier of medical claims among major health providers? MEDICARE! My guess is the HistoryWriter won’t be trotting out that particular fact.
Gotta love the logic of the Left.
November 9th, 2009 | 5:01 pm
[...] health care: Ireland cancels scheduled surgeries to cut costs Story from Irish Central. (H/T Secondhand Smoke via [...]
November 9th, 2009 | 8:53 pm
If people think insurance companies are bad for providing care, just wait until some government bureaucrat gets to decide your fate.
November 10th, 2009 | 8:30 pm
[...] from Irish Central. (H/T Secondhand Smoke via [...]
November 11th, 2009 | 9:11 am
People like HistoryWriter (Incidentally, how can you write history when your reading comprehension is nil? Tell us what you’ve written, and we’ll avoid it like the plague) are in for a big shock.
And Reason60 is entertaining, too. Just sittin’ there, smoking endless packs of cigarettes, waiting for his relief check to arrive, no doubt. Why don’t you read something edifying this afternoon? I recommend anything by Thomas Sowell.
December 4th, 2009 | 12:07 am
If a lawyer felt confident enough about the case, he could waive up-front fees as a selling point (one of our locals does have this selling point in all his ads — no fees if the client doesn’t win — and I haven’t heard anything to the contrary).
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