[ExI] Private and government R&D [was Health care in the USA]

[Stathis Papaioannou]

2009/7/21 Anna Taylor <femmechakra at yahoo.ca>:
>
> --- On Mon, 7/20/09, Stathis Papaioannou <stathisp at gmail.com> wrote:
>> My point (which no-one has yet addressed) is that *public*
>> health in
>> the US costs more per capita, while providing less, than
>> *public*
>> health in Canada, and other shambolic countries. So, just
>> as there are
>> more and less efficient businesses, there are more and less
>> efficient
>> public enterprises.
>
> Just curious..do you live in Canada?
> Anna:)

No, Australia. I believe the Australian system differs from the
Canadian one in that there is a bigger private health sector, and the
government encourages private health insurance with rebates and tax
concessions. This undoes some of the "fairness" of the public health
system, in that wealthier people potentially have quicker access to
elective procedures. However, the public system is still universal,
and people who are very unwell or have an unusual condition requiring
very specialised care often end up in a public hospital regardless of
wealth or insurance status, along with those whose insurance runs out
or who develop an unexpected complication.


-- 
Stathis Papaioannou