There is a direct correlation between regions and nations that have government paid National Healthcare systems, and those who don't. France and Australia do. Those with universal government paid systems make decisions based on how much hospital capacity they have, and the cost. They necessarily ration healthcare as part of the every day system; so there isn't enough capacity or healthcare workers to deal with large and sudden surges like this pandemic.
Countries like the USA that have private healthcare have far more capacity and workers because it is a competitive system with built in over capacity. While our capacity is not unlimited (and can vary around the country), we have ways to rapidly expand it when needed. That simply doesn't exist in most other nations, so they make policy decisions using their models. These policy decisions necessarily involve more draconian and forced measures to keep their limited healthcare systems from collapsing under the weight of increased need.
And this is why the universal government paid healthcare system that works reasonably well for some things, fails miserably for others. The real cost is personal liberties. Just try getting a knee replacement in England if you don't meet their weight standard. Try getting the latest medications or procedures. They do what is affordable for the government, not what is best for the patient. This is why the Mayo clinic in my state has nearly 40% of it's patients coming from the EU, Canada, and other places with national healthcare systems where theoretically healthcare is free and wonderful. Nope.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2021 06:02AM by RockRam.
