Growing dissatisfaction with government-run program
WND 6/23/19
Self-proclaimed democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders and other Democrats frequently point to the Scandinavian countries as models for health care, but an increasing number of citizens in these nations are opting for private medical insurance, finding the universal government system inadequate.
Kevin Pham, a medical doctor and a former graduate fellow in health policy at the Heritage Foundation, points out in a column for the Daily Signal that Denmark, Sweden and Norway are not socialist countries but highly taxed market economies with large welfare states.
He notes a growing European interest in private health insurance that “typically stems from dissatisfaction with the state-run systems, which often provide poor or incomplete coverage and long wait times.”
“By contrast, private plans offer wider coverage, shorter wait times, access to private facilities, and more flexibility in patient choice,” he wrote.
Between 2006 and 2016, the portion of the population covered by private insurance increased by 4 percent in Sweden, 7 percent in Norway and 22 percent in Denmark.
A 2009 survey showed nearly half of Danes felt waiting times were unreasonable while only about a third disagreed. In 2007, the Danish government enacted a wait time guarantee of one month to receive treatment.
Meanwhile, some Democratic presidential candidates are proposing “Medicare for All,” which is most similar to the Canadian system in which providers bill a regional office administering the program...........under Medicare for All...........“Private health insurance would be abolished for everyone.”
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