Originally posted by sigma:
I don't think you'll find many people to disagree that we all have a right to at least a fundamental level of basic healthcare. That's not really at question. The question is who is better-equipped to provide it.


As I said, if the answer is "yes, it's a right" then the "who, how, and how much" debate becomes a lot more significant. I'm not convinced, however, that the majority agrees that univeral access to basic healthcare is a right.

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The question is who is better-equipped to provide it. And, while I agree with basic education also being a right, I will again pose the question of who is better-equipped to provide it.



Who indeed? Does the record of providing basic healthcare to all (universal access is a right, right?) by private healthcare providers even come close to a minimum standard? Do kids today have better access to basic education or to basic healthcare? Millions without access to basic healthcare due to being uninsured, underinsured and unable to pay for it IMO doesn't meet any standards for success.

When this debate was waged in Canada in the 1960's two things became clear. 1) The vast majority of Canadians felt it was a right of citizenship to have universal access to basic healthcare ... and 2) private insurance companies wanted nothing to do with it because the profit potential wasn't there.

What happened in essence is that the Federal government was forced to become the insurer, and all Canadians became at the same time policy holders and share holders.

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And the government should be setting and enforcing the professional standards for medical personnel --

Isn't this already the case?

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again, not providing us with the healthcare, just ensuring that private enterprise is providing us with a safe level of service.

Doctors nurses and hospitals deliver healthcare, not the government (even in Canada) - if you believe in universal access as a right, then what happens if the private sector can't or won't provide it (and the evidence strongly suggests this is the case) how do you ensure that it happens?

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And all the same ideas can be appliedd to education.



Are you suggesting that public education be privatized? What other institutions would you apply this philosophy to ... law enforcment (FBI, CIA) or the military perhaps?