[extropy-chat] article: Who Controls Your Health Care? (Shape magazine)

Amara Graps amara at amara.com
Wed Oct 29 15:18:32 UTC 2003


(sending again, I didn't have the 'lists' in front of the domain)

Natasha,
>Isn't Italy a government supported health care country? If so, this would
>explain it.

I don't think I followed your comment, Natasha. The article was
about Catholic-based hospitals in the US, but I added my own opinion
about other countries' hospitals too.
(I.e., I don't know to what your 'it' is referring.)

Yes, Italy is a government supported health care country, if you can
call it that. Most people have private doctors though, because the
public health care is often poor, and moreover, if you have an
emergency condition, you will have to wait. Days, weeks, months. If
you want an appointment with a public health care doctor, your
appointment will likely be far in the future. (Example: when I
called to make an appointment in mid-September with an eye doctor
because my eyesight has deteriated rapidly this year, the first
available appointment for me was/is in April.)

>But don't Italians get tax breaks for having children?

Almost nothing.

>I  wonder if the population is dropping in Italy, as in many other countries.

Negative, in fact. Italy's birth rate is the lowest in Europe.
-- 

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Amara Graps, PhD          email: amara at amara.com
Computational Physics     vita:  ftp://ftp.amara.com/pub/resume.txt
Multiplex Answers         URL:   http://www.amara.com/
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"The best presents don't come in boxes." --Hobbes



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