Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

Health Insurance vs. Socialized Healthcare, Pt7 -- What Difference?

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This is the last article in this series covering Kevin Freking’s clarification of this controversial issue…the previous article addressed some of the positive national health system…

Comparing the US-based health insurance system to the single-payer systems of Canada and Great Britain, there is also a downside to the single-payer systems as well. Studies from a different Commonwealth Fund survey show the difference in waiting times for patients to see a specialist. These rates were for the percentage of people who had to wait for more than four weeks: In Canada it was 57%; in Great Britain it was 60%; and in the US it was only 23%. Using the same survey, but for elective, non-emergency surgery, the percentages were: In Canada it was 33%; in Great Britain it was 41%; and in the US it was only 8%. So it is evident that wait-times for more involved electives are substantially lower with the US-based health insurance system. Note that this does not cover ordinary healthcare wait times, which don’t seem to be significant enough to contrast between the systems. Neither does it the contrast the personal hardships of the most financially hard-pressed. There are many other fundamental differences between Health Insurance vs. Socialized Healthcare, but these were a few.

In summary, It seems like each of the three countries analyzed have their complaints, be they on equal levels or not. It is noted by the Commonwealth Fund that 82% of adults in the U.S. believe that our health insurance-based system, either needs a fundamental change or to be completely rebuilt. 72% of those in Canada and Great Britain were found to feel the same way about their own health care system. Hopefully this series will educate or, at least, enlighten our American public about the vast differences, as well as the pros and cons between a typical socialized healthcare system and the health insurance-based-healthcare system of the US. My many thanks go out to Kevin Freking of the AP for all his hard work and to the Chicago Tribune for championing this much needed understanding.