The left wants to adopt a European model. But what if the
European model is to reform their system to look more like ours?
In The Weekly Standard, Stanley Goldfarb
investigates the example of the Netherlands. The Dutch are
reforming their centralized health care system to allow
profit-seeking insurers, and taking other free-market steps.
Goldfarb asks:
The OECD has polled Europeans who regularly utilize health care
about their satisfaction with their healthcare system. In 2003,
45.2% of the respondents in 15 nations in the European Union
expressed dissatisfaction. While similar numbers of patients
express dissatisfaction with the United States system, are we
willing to embark on an experiment with a potential outcome to
create a system that not only leaves us pretty much at a
similar degree of satisfaction but one that has angered and
polarized our entire nation? Can't we wait to see how the
Massachussetts plan turns out before we commit the whole nation
to a similar approach? Can't we learn from countries like the
Netherlands where competition, incentives, and privatization
are seen as the means to efficiency and high patient
satisfaction?
