You can say that Sean Spicer is a star performer when it comes to
dancing around the truth. He leaves no doubt about that when you judge him by
his latest performance. This would be the one that came in the form of an
article he wrote on the politics of health insurance.
The article in question came under the title: “Dems use COVID-19
pandemic to push health care takeover agenda,” and the subtitle: “What
government-run health care would look like.” It was published on May 20, 2020
in the Washington Times.
Despite the claim in the subtitle that Spicer will show how, “a
government-run health care would look like,” there is not the slightest hint in
the article, that Spicer has even the faintest idea what Canada's system looks
like or Britain's system after which the Canadian was modeled.
In the interest of intellectual honesty, if that's truly what Sean
Spicer was interested in, he could have pointed to an article that was
published 2 days earlier than his own. It came under the title: “America's
dependence on Chinese Communist Party is the real health crisis,” and the
subtitle: “Big trouble in tainted China.” It was written by Richard Berman and
published on May 28, 2020 in The Washington Times.
The article shows in detail how America depends on Chinese
supplies which he contends are defective. If that is true, you can have the
best hospitals and best doctors in the world, but if the ventilator you use is
a lemon, and the medicine you inject into the patient's body is poison, you’ll
not see a recovered patient walk out the hospital door, you'll see a copse
brought out in a coffin.
Still, oblivious of the fact that an increasing number of American
patients seek medical care in Canada, and fly as far away as South America,
Asia, even the Middle East and North Africa to get it –– look what Sean Spicer
goes on to say, apparently with a straight face:
“Europeans and Canadians often come to the United States for care.
Some would say at least people in Europe and Canada have insurance. Well,
having insurance without access to a doctor does not make you healthier, it
simply means you have a card that says you have insurance. Our health care
professionals have proven they are the best the world has to offer”.
This is such a perversely inflated lie, I must parse it to put the
subject to rest once and for all. The core of the matter rests on people having
access to medical care. Like it is with every commodity or service, if there is
enough of the product, everyone gets their share, and there is no problem. But
when the nation is hit by extraneous circumstances such as a pandemic, which
would result in the development of shortages in some areas of the economy,
rationing is used to solve the problem. But watch it because there are two very
distinct ways to do rationing.
One way to ration things is to say that because the supply was
reduced (for example) to 80% of our normal collective consumption … until
things get back to normal, everyone's take will be limited to 80% of what they
used to consume before the extraneous circumstances hit.
The other way is to say, this is a cash and carry capitalist
system. If you have the cash, you get healthcare and live. If you don't have
the cash, you get to suffer and die. If things turn out as predicted by the
models, 20% of you will soon be dead so that the wealthy may live. Tough luck
to the poor, for this is a capitalist system operating at its best. So, be good
boys and girls those of you who are poor, go home and say your prayers because
you haven't much time.
Well, my friend, this is the difference between Canada and the
United States. It never happened that shortages developed in Canada to the
point where rationing was implemented. This is because the system is one of
universal coverage that's paid for by a single payer. For this reason, everyone
in the system––rich or poor––has been receiving the same level of care. When
the load increases during difficult times, the healthcare providers work a
little harder and serve everyone equally.
By contrast, the situation in America is such that everyone, from
the doctors to the insurance companies, prefer to look after the wealthy
patients who would be protected by a “Cadillac” kind of policy. For this
reason, you'll find that the doctors open their clinics in the wealthy
neighborhoods of the big cities, leaving the poor neighborhoods and the rural
areas without a medical facility. These are the places where people are left to
die whether or not they say their prayers. The net result is that, extraneous
circumstances or not, shortages are the natural state of the American system
for a good part of the population.
As to the middle class, it is the one that gets hit in the
pocketbook the most. In fact, you’ll find that the Americans who seek treatment
abroad are middle class citizens who were done in by a capitalist system they
spent a lifetime building only to be kicked in the rear end by it when they
needed it the most.