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I have heard horror stories from people who lived in Ireland, Germany, U.K. and Canada in regards to Universal health care. Most of the stories are along the lines of,"yes it's free but you have to wait forever for an appointment and the doctors don't care because there is no incentive to work harder and serve more patients." There is also the case where the locals go to one hospital while the foreigners "with money" go to the good hospital. You also have situations where the local doctor will take a cash bribe from the patient to move up appointments and other small things.
In regards to what Bush proposed... The big problem is that employers have a "take it or leave it" policy when they offer health care. If you say to your employer, "You know what? I'm a young single guy and I'm in no danger of health issues unless I get in a car accident and die so... Rather than waste your money paying your side of my health insurance premium why don't you give me the money you would have spent on my health care, or even just 75% of it and we'll call it a day," they will laugh at you.
His proposal seems to be based on an assumption that if you opt-out of employer financed health care you will get the extra money in your paycheck! I think the policy is one of those ten-year plans where you are looking more to change the way people see health insurance (something your employer gives you for free!) into something that has a true economic cost to you. The end result would be that an informed person who sees the true cost of their health insurance will be motivated to bring that cost down.
Universal Health Care is a pet project of the Democrats, which makes me wonder what will come of things if the UAW and the big three automakers do go forward with moving the health care system from the automakers to the union. I'm sure the union would love to have access to the trust fund associated with this change and once they get the money they will probably no longer be interested in government health care!
The main problem I have with government-run health care is that when government gets involved prices go up rather than down. Also, why would you want to nationalize such a large portion of the nations economy? what legal rights will you have? You can't exactly sue the government!
This is one of those things that sounds good in theory but not so good in reality. Kind of like communism. Communism sounds great in theory but it does not work out in reality because people need motivation to produce. If you have a communal farm and someone tells you that your job is picking up cow shit and Joe's job is gathering eggs you are going to begin to wonder why Joe gets the easy job and you are stuck shovelling shit! The human race is not exactly known for self-motivation.
I didn't think so.
Our system of capitalism is far from perfect, but I can see nothing better to replace it. If you really want to fix the healthcare crisis, fix the legal system first. A disproportionate amount of the blame can be fixed squarely on frivolous lawsuits that in turn impact insurance rates.
I'd be motivated to bring the cost down? I'd be motivated to try to find my own insurance, sure. And would that be as good as what I have now? Do you think I have as much individual bargaining power in the market as my employer? No. I'd have to settle for less. Much less.
Another problem with the figure on uninsured people in the US is that they never ask if people are voluntarily uninsured. For years I was voluntarily uninsured because I saw no benefit in paying $100 a month for coverage that I knew I did not need!
This is not unlike the poverty surveys. Don't just tell us how many folks are living in poverty, tell us how many have been stuck there. I used to be living in poverty, then I worked my way up through getting better jobs! Poverty numbers are always made to look as if there is a certain segment of real people that can never get out of poverty!
It might only be a dream but, I will follow it, even if it makes me do stuff such as the guys from Sanctuary.
Why you ask? Well, because I think that if a person is dying and he has no money, would go there and try to help. The life of a person has no price.
I do agree, though, that the government does certain things very well. These tend to be activities that good employees want to be a part of. For example, somebody who wants to be a police officer would not be happy being a mall security guard. There really isn't much private opportunity for police officers. As a result, you've got a lot of good police officers in government service.
The patent office isn't an industry.
The public defender system pits inadequate, underexperienced legal counsel against the good lawyers who were skilled enough to get high-paying jobs at big firms.
I don't know what Legal Aid is.
Public libraries are not an industry. There are no private libraries that I can see. This thread isn't about government services. It's about government-controlled industry.
The highway system is not an industry.
I don't know enough about the TVA to argue for or against.
PBS is failing miserably. Despite SOME good programming, there is far higher quality on private channels like TLC or History or Discovery, and it's not just old people who are supporting the cost.
Now let me provide some counter-examples:
Airlines
Phone companies
Social security (i.e. retirement funds)
Telegraph
Railroads
Public school
"The patent office isn't an industry." No. It's government involvement in industry. What you asked.
"The public defender system pits inadequate, underexperienced legal counsel against the good lawyers who were skilled enough to get high-paying jobs at big firms." And before, judges simply appointed the first person available, or no one at all. Government involvement in private industry again. As far as P.D. success, there have been many and varied such.
"I don't know what Legal Aid is." Similar to P.D.. Same as P.D. some places. In places where it's not, Legal Aid deals with civil stuff like divorces, child support, consumer suits, etc.
"Public libraries are not an industry. There are no private libraries that I can see. This thread isn't about government services. It's about government-controlled industry." Queen Elizabeth's Library. Try to get a card there. Without govt, you'd have NO library access at all. Pretty successful when you say you don't even see any private libraries.
"The highway system is not an industry." Interstate Commerce. Used to be controlled by private RR companies. Now not so much.
"I don't know enough about the TVA to argue for or against." Basically, utility company. Brought light and potable water to many who wouldn't have them otherwise.
"PBS is failing miserably. Despite SOME good programming, there is far higher quality on private channels like TLC or History or Discovery, and it's not just old people who are supporting the cost." PBS programming - "Masterpiece Theater". TLC programming - "Worlds' Biggest Tumor". Discovery programming - "The Boy with No Face" 'Nuff said.
As for your counter-examples, you didn't ask for proof that all government involvement works. You ask: "When has it worked?" Your question calls for at least one example. One example completely answers the question as asked. Your counter-examples may or may not work, but they do not prove that all government involvement doesn't work.