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Another Simple Change that Would Make America Better by ©John F. Butterfield I want to emphasize the word simple. All the other industrialized countries, including Canada, have nationalized health care. The Canadian healthcare system delivers quality healthcare just as quickly to the individual and at a lower cost to the country than the United States healthcare system, despite what neo-con propaganda says. Over 60% of U.S. citizens want a Canadian style healthcare system, so it is hard to believe we don't already have one. U.S. corporations that compete internationally have a disadvantage because their foreign competitors do not have to bare a healthcare burden. A few ex-U.S. companies have even stated that the major reason they moved to Canada was to avoid the expense of providing healthcare insurance for their employees. This is certainly one reason to ponder whether making laws that would force companies to spend a percentage of their income on health insurance for their employees is a good idea. There are other reasons. If a company has to pay out money for employees health care, it makes sense for it to have fewer employees even if it has to pay some overtime. In this case, what's good for the company may not be good for workers. The employed worker would be better off with nationalized health care than the cost of a shared insurance premium and a few-overtime-dollars/lost-discretionary-time tradeoff. It would better serve our country to have a healthcare system that would encourage companies to create jobs. Our country would be much better off to have more high school and college graduates find jobs and for workers to have more time for family, rest, and leisure activities that just might make for better educated, better workers with fewer problems on their minds. It is much harder to live under our current healthcare system than it would be to make a sweeping change straight to a nationalized healthcare system like those found in all the other industrialized nations of the world. In this case, "Only in America" is not something to be proud of. |