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Nobody in the United States seriously proposes recreating the British or Canadian systems here — in part because, as critics charge and Moore ignores, they really do have waiting lines. A closer model for the United States would be France, which doesn't have that problem and which — thankfully — also merits considerable screen time in Moore's movie. As Paul Dutton explains in a new book called "Differential Diagnoses," the French prize individual liberty, so they created an insurance system that, today, allows free choice of doctor and offers highly advanced medical care to those who need it. One of this system's most appealing features, which Moore showcases, is the availability of 24-hour house-call service via a company called SOS Médecins. (Moore travels along with one of the company's doctors as he rides around Paris one night, taking dispatch calls like a taxi driver and then administering at-home medical care to a young man with some kind of stomach problem.)
All of this does cost money, naturally, and Moore acknowledges what many assume is the French system's big drawback: its high taxes. But Moore also provides the same answer that any good policy wonk (including yours truly) would: They pay more in taxes but less in private insurance. In fact, the French system, like every other one in the rest of the developed world, costs less than ours overall.
The French like their system a lot — more than the citizens of any other country, including the United States, if you believe the opinion polls. The World Health Organization likes it a lot, too: It has ranked France's system tops in the world. But that isn't stopping critics from attacking it. In a pre-buttal of "Sicko" that appeared in the New York Post, the Cato Institute's Michael Tanner warned last week that Moore missed the real problem in France: its shortage of high-tech care.
This was news to me. I spent a lot of time researching France when I wrote my book, and I never heard anything about shortages of high-tech care. I asked Victor Rodwin of New York University, this country's leading expert on the French health care system, if he had ever heard of such shortages. He hadn't, either.
In the interest of fairness, I decided I would ask Tanner himself: What was his evidence? He said the French government was starting to tighten access to specialists. Well, sure — but it's still a far cry from what managed care has done in this country for years. He also said that France has fewer MRIs and CT scanners than the United States, which is very true and very irrelevant. Most experts think we have far more than we need here. If there were real shortages in France, there would be long queues to use them, and there's no evidence of this, either.
Tanner's op-ed was a good reminder of the proper context for considering "Sicko" — the fact that opponents of universal health care have been spewing half-truths and outright falsehoods for decades. If anything, the proponents of universal health care have probably been too honest, getting so caught up in nuance and policy accuracy that they undermine the very real moral power of their own argument. As another great health care debate begins, it's worth remembering that the fundamental challenge isn't technical. We have plenty of good ideas for achieving universal coverage. The challenge is political. Our side needs some passion and, yes, perhaps a little simplicity, too."
I can only acknowledge these comments as accurate and appreciate, for once, an open mind regarding this system I've lived in and 'used' for the past 18 years. As a mother of three and a spine patient, it has been largely adequate and our family does not regret a cent spent in taxes required to support such a system. As far as the supposed lack of 'high' technology and/or MRI and CAT scan facilities, it is simply untrue (at least in this region). I have never waited more than 2 weeks for an MRI, and when I was in serious pain I was taken immediately. What kills me are the critics who have absolutely no idea of how this system works, but who criticize it because 'even a crappy US system is better than any foreign one'. And no , that attitude is not uncommon...
I will say it once again: I sincerely hope that all Americans can one day enjoy the kind of healthcare we have here in France (and I hope the French will wake up and realize how good they've got it, and do all they can to protect this system rather than drain it dry). But for that, people are going to have to first admit other systems are better, then get very vocal about it. Any activists out there: let me know if I can help in any way to get the message across to more people back home. I would be happy to outline my experiences with some vivid examples.
You can read the rest of the article here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...24_page2.shtml