TOOTING OUR HORNS, APPROPRIATELY – AT 7:19 P.M. ET:  Meeting in secret, the great minds of the Dem leadership in Congress are fashioning the final health "reform" bill that will be slammed through the House and Senate, despite wide public opposition.

One argument they'll use is that the system is "broken."  Well, okay, the system needs improvement.  No one denies that.  But broken?  Maybe it's time to look at some basic facts, as the Wall Street Journal does, about the greatness of the American health-care system:

The comparative ranking system that most critics cite comes from the U.N.'s World Health Organization (WHO). The ranking most often quoted is Overall Performance, where the U.S. is rated No. 37. The Overall Performance Index, however, is adjusted to reflect how well WHO officials believe that a country could have done in relation to its resources.

The scale is heavily subjective: The WHO believes that we could have done better because we do not have universal coverage. What apparently does not matter is that our population has universal access because most physicians treat indigent patients without charge and accept Medicare and Medicaid payments, which do not even cover overhead expenses. The WHO does rank the U.S. No. 1 of 191 countries for "responsiveness to the needs and choices of the individual patient." Isn't responsiveness what health care is all about?

Some very good information there, correct?  Then why don't we hear it from the mainstream media?  You don't think they're...they're...?  No, I don't want to accuse.

...cardiac deaths in the U.S. have fallen by two-thirds over the past 50 years. Polio has been virtually eradicated. Childhood leukemia has a high cure rate. Eight of the top 10 medical advances in the past 20 years were developed or had roots in the U.S.

And I haven't seen too many bodies in the streets.

...our country ranks first or second in the world in kidney transplants, liver transplants, heart transplants, total knee replacements, coronary artery bypass, and percutaneous coronary interventions.

Take that, UN!

But the issue is only partly about quality. As we have all heard, the U.S. spends a higher percentage of its gross domestic product for health care than any other country...

...So what does this money buy? Certainly some goes to inefficiencies, corporate profits, and costs that should be lowered by professional liability reform and national, free-market insurance access by allowing for competition across state lines. But the majority goes to a long list of advantages that American citizens now expect: the easiest access, the shortest waiting times the widest choice of physicians and hospitals, and constant availability of health care to elderly Americans. What we need now is insurance and liability reform—not health-care reform.

But we will get health-care "reform" because the leftist agenda demands it, as a matter, not of health, but of ideology.  Only 20% of Americans consider themselves liberals, yet look what's being done by the "representatives" of the people.

Finally...

Perhaps it's not that America spends too much on health care, but that other nations don't spend enough.

COMMENT:  Quite true.  But you'll never hear it from the UN, or from the trendy media.  After all, how can any decent person insult Sweden?  That's a leftist felony.

January 8, 2009