Single Payer in Britain

In case you missed it in the WS Journal, a British doctor named Anthony Daniels who writes under the pen name, Theodore Dalrymple, weighed in on ObamaCare. He first debunked the notion of healthcare as a “right,” pointing out that “There are several other much more important preconditions of human existence, such as food, shelter and clothing.”

After noting that healthcare has been considered a right in Britain longer than in any other Western country, he remarked, “Not coincidentally, the U.K. is by far the most unpleasant country in which to be ill in the Western world.”

Noting that in most of Europe, unlike Britain, people do pay at least something for their care, he reports that “British survival rates for cancer and heart disease are much below those of other European countries” and “…Britain does have the dirtiest, most broken-down hospitals in Europe.”

So much for a “single payer”, government-run healthcare system. The full article is on page A13, Wed. July 29, WSJ.