The myth of Cuban health care

You may have heard Michael Moore’s stunt bringing 9/11 workers to Cuba for “better” health care. Fred Thompson rips that myth apart:

What is it that leads people to value theoretically “free” health care, even when it’s lousy or nonexistent, over a free society that actually delivers health care? You might have to deal with creditors after you go to the emergency ward in America, but no one is denied medical care here. I guarantee even the poorest Americans are getting far better medical services than many Cubans.
According to Forbes magazine, by the way, Castro is now personally worth approximately $900 million. So when he desperately needed medical treatment recently, he could afford to fly a Spanish surgeon, with equipment, on a chartered jet to Cuba. What does that say about free Cuban health care?

Comments

The Independent Urologist
It is true. In this country, you are not denied EMERGENY care. You will be denied ELECTIVE care, which includes almost all cancer care, if you can’t pay for it, either via insurance or out-of-pocket. The ER argument of Fred Thompson is just plain wrong.
Anonymous
Hmm. I’ve been doing Head and Neck cancer surgery for over 20 years and I cannot recall a SINGLE case of a patient being denied treatment for ANY reason. Is the urologic world that different?
Yes, patients are “denied” elective treatment like having a deviated septum repaired- if you consider being presented a prospective bill for services rendered, and a decision on the part of the patient to walk away from that elective treatment, denial.
Anonymous
Same with me. If a patient has a Fracture that needs to be fixed. It’s done regardless if they can pay of not. Fracture fixation is always elective save for an unstable pelvis. ACL thats a different story, but one does not need an ACL to live. John Elway played a long time without one.
Anonymous
Urologist,
Yeah, what goes on in urology??? Everything I know of in any specialty gets taken care of if it is important. Hell, even the county hospitals and teaching hospitals where I am at are providing care for penniless illegal aliens, as is our community hsopital and private docs.
Anonymous
I am a urologist and concur with the concensus here. Obviously ‘the independent urologist’ has his own independent opinion that should not be reflected upon the majority of urologists.
Anonymous
Being required to pay for elective care to get it is not being denied. I know someone who went into a rage over not being given free care, but was too proud to ask her physician son for the 200$ a month it was to cost her. She made a value decision of where the care stood in her heirarchy of values.
It is terrible how communist regiemes have co-opted physicians, expecially psychiatrists, to act as an arm of the police state. There are those in our society who would like for us to accept that role as well. Freedom requires vigilance and sacrifice.
Mike
But what about those who would probably get a cath or probably get a liver biopsy/resection, but doctors are on the fence, adn you know the insurance issue often gives them that little push tosay “Ah, just medical therapy”. Cmon, we all know that patients who can afford things get them more often. Its not even a debate. I dont know how this impacts the Michael Moore thing, but its a part of everyday medicine for me.
Anonymous
This free ER being equvalent to great healthcare is so worn out, not to mention absolutely false. Yes, if someone goes to ER in a medical emergency they will get free care. They will get the stroke work up and the cardiac enzymes drawn. BUT, they would have been denied their hypertension or caoronary drugs from the ER if they had shown up just for them last month. Stop making this sound more important than what it is. When we start giving people their meds to control their illness instead of just “after the fact” care, then you can talk about how great you are.
people in America should not be having strokes and heart attackes because of their inability to afford medications. Don’t act like this doesn’t exist, it is what’s keeping your ER’s running. Wonder how thats all working out for the tax payers. We don’t want to pay for someone’s 15.00 prescription but yet we then pay for catastropic care, when something major happens. We are the stupiest nation on earth.
Anonymous
“people in America should not be having strokes and heart attackes because of their inability to afford medications…”
This cry baby argument is so old and worn out you need to lay it down to rest. Even Walmart now is providing generic meds for pennies. Go to the link below and there is a hoard of meds available for $4 per month, including lisinopril, metoprolol, glyburide, etc.
Unfortunately, what the single payer cheerleaders don’t want you to know is that it is not a problem of affordability of medications, it is a problem of personal responsibility and no amount of “free” care can cure that ailment.
http://i.walmart.com/i/if/hmp/fusion/genericdruglist.pdf
Anonymous
People who don’t get care in this country don’t get it because they are just too @*@%^& lazy. There is medicaid, county programs, charity clinics, and low cost generics. Yes you might have to wait in line at the county clinic and it might take a little effort, but I am tired of the argument that people can’t get care.
Empty the cigarettes, cell phone, IPOD from your purse, find a county or charity clinic, and pay for cheap, effective, primary care generic drugs.

The myth of Cuban health care

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