[ExI] government corruption

[Damien Broderick]

At 08:21 PM 2/24/2009 +0100, Mirco commented on Stathis:

>>So if someone points out that, for example, a particular public
>>health system is cheaper and results in better outcomes than a
>>mostly private health system, you react as if you've been presented
>>with plans for a perpetual motion machine: you *know* there must be
>>a flaw, clever though the design may be, and it is just a matter of
>>finding it.
>
>Because we are not interested in the short term effects in a particular
>group of people, but in all effects for all people.

Oddly enough, that's exactly what supporters of a public health system say.

"Short-term effects"--the system Stathis and I 
are used to (which has its shortcomings, but not 
nearly as many as the US robber-baron-oligopoloy 
system) has been doing a good job for, oh,  25 
years. Those are *long-term effects*. See e.g.

<http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Fellowships/Packer-Policy-Fellowships/The-Health-Care-System-and-Health-Policy-in-Australia.aspx>

Note also from that description:

<Australia actively encourages private insurance 
to supplement public coverage. Private health 
insurance can cover private and public hospital 
charges (public hospitals charge only patients 
who elect to be private patients in order to be 
treated by the doctors of their choice), and a 
portion of medical fees for private patients' 
inpatient services. Private insurance can also 
cover allied health/paramedical services (such as 
physiotherapists' and podiatrists' services) and 
some aids and appliances (such as eye glasses). 
Private insurance covers 43.1% of the population. 
Expenditure by private health insurance funds 
accounts for 7.1 percent of total health 
expenditure. The Australian Government encourages 
Australians to take out private health insurance 
through a 30–40 percent rebate on premiums, 
depending on age. The Government has also 
introduced the Lifetime Health Cover initiative, 
designed to encourage people to take out private 
hospital coverage early in life and maintain their coverage. >

Damien Broderick