<div>There is no "bias" in these facts:</div>
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<div><a href="http://www.who.int/whr/2000/media_centre/press_release/en/">http://www.who.int/whr/2000/media_centre/press_release/en/</a></div>
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<div>From the URL above:</div>
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<div>The World Health Organization has carried out the first ever analysis of the world's health systems. Using five performance indicators to measure health systems in 191 member states, it finds that France provides the best overall health care followed among major countries by Italy, Spain, Oman, Austria and Japan.</div>
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<div>The U.S. health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product than any other country but ranks 37 out of 191 countries according to its performance, the report finds. </div>
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<div>Now why is this the case? Some defend the US health care system with private HMOs as a high efficiency model, but how can nations with more socialized health care offer better overall performance with less money? </div>
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<div>So now the rubber meets the road on this issue, the political/economic biases regarding the private vs. public sector. The ominous specter of "socialized medicine" rises from the horizon. But of course the multi-hundred billion dollar socialized taxpayer funded military industrial complex in the USA is benign... Don't worry about wasteful spending, undue control over government via lobbyists, or being dragged into cruel and wasteful wars to feed that beast... No, we need to be very worried that universal health care will undermine the very fabric of our society. We need tanks, jets, bombers, missiles, and aircraft carriers, not doctors to treat children with no health insurance. That's their parents fault, if they can't afford a doctor or comprehensive health insurance coverage, after all!</div>
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<div>Anyway, I might just have an opinion on this issue, but I'm holding back to keep the dialog from being too heated... </div>
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<div>I think the data showing that some nations with more socialized medicine offer better overall health care than the USA, requires some deft fact sifting and shifting to get around. If you are among the rich, no doubt you can buy the best health care in the world in the USA. If you are middle or lower class, good luck! </div>
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<div>Ted Moffett<br> </div><span class="gmail_quote"></span>
<div><span class="gmail_quote"></span> </div>
<div><span class="gmail_quote">4/15/08, <b class="gmail_sendername">Chasuk</b> <<a href="mailto:chasuk@gmail.com">chasuk@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</span></div>
<div><span class="gmail_quote"></span> </div>
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<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">Thanks, Saundra. I'll take a look at it.<br><br>I'm a big fan of PBS and NPR (some might say tat this is because their<br>
biases match mine), so I'm sure it will be interesting.<br><br>=======================================================<br>List services made available by First Step Internet,<br>serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br>
<a href="http://www.fsr.net">http://www.fsr.net</a><br> mailto:<a href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com</a><br>=======================================================<br></blockquote>
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