Thursday, October 16, 2003

HEY BIG SPENDER. Despite all the liberal carping, the United States is far and away the biggest spender on health care. Uncle Sam spends $4,887 per person per year. This is double what most industrial countries spend. It is almost 14 % of the GDP. That is huge.

Practical experience will tell you the same, if you bother to look. The fact is, anyone in distress can walk into any hospital in America and be treated and never pay a dime. People come to Fort Worth hospitals from out of town, out of state, and out of country, and receive free medical care. Women drive up from Mexico City and check into Harris Hospital for free pregnancy care.

Ironically, if you have insurance, you must make arrangements to pay any balance and can really get rigorous treatment.

If you want to know why health care is expensive, that is where you can look. I'll wager that almost half of all patients do not pay, making it more expensive for those of us who do. Socialism is here.

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