Med Innovations goes on the attack about the NYTimes’ reporting of medical stories and wishes they were more in line with his beliefs about the true America:

It all comes down to altitude and attitude. From their lofty perch, The New York Time’s editorial staff has yet to tumble to the reality America is basically a conservative nation, distrusts centralized government, wants choices of care and providers, demands access to the wonders of high tech medicine, and believes a market-based system, with all its faults, such as profits for entrepreneurial and innovative health care companies and doctors, are worth the price and value received.

He is talking about the United States of America, right? I was wondering why this poll didn’t get more coverage on the medical blogosphere showing that two thirds of Americans believe the government should provide national health insurance even at the cost of higher taxes. I don’t think our country is at all as “basically conservative” and distrustful of centralized government as Med Innovations thinks. I don’t think the country believes in a market-based system either.

I think the country knows that the health care system sucks, but many are scared of change or reform because they would have to risk their coverage to provide it for everyone. They know someone in the middle class or have read about someone with cancer–or even a kid with asthma–losing their wonderful “market-based” coverage after having paid into the system for years, and they’re worried they could be next. And they know if you’re uninsured and really sick it can devastate you not just physically and emotionally, but financially too, and that’s not something people should have to risk, especially kids. They worry about waiting times because everything everyone talks about is waiting for elective hip replacements in Canada.

I think they want their health care to work like I want my electricity does–when I flick the switch, the light should go on. That is, if Medicare or a single-payer or whoever can keep the level of quality and choice the same but provide coverage to everybody, then we should all get it–they’ve been screwed over by HMOs and for-profit HMO billing fraud and drug company lobbying enough. They know the “efficiency” of the “market place” is crap in health care, because they’ve spend 30 minutes on the phone with a claims reviewer getting something covered that should’ve been covered in the first place. And they know that “pre-existing conditions” are an America-only concept created only to maximize profits and resist providing medical coverage for actual medical problems.

Do you think the government should provide a national health insurance program for all Americans, even if this would require higher taxes?
Yes 64%
No 35%
No opinion 2%

Do you think the government should provide a national health insurance program for all children under the age of 18, even if this would require higher taxes?
Yes 73%
No 25%
No opinion 2%

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