We always assume that ours is the freest media and that we are the most informed people in the world. A short test of those assumptions may be found in answers to a few questions, answers basic to our well being, let’s say, on health care… especially since Republicans are already filing suits to repeal the health care program recently passed by Congress and signed by Pres. Obama.
1.Which of the following countries first administered a universal health insurance plan?
a. Canada b. England c. Germany d. United States.
2. Which of the following countries do not allow for-profit universal health insurance programs:
a. Japan b. Germany c. France d. Italy
3. If you had a history of cancer and no health insurance, in what country would your situation be so similar, you’d feel right at home:
a. Taiwan b. Spain c. Zimbabwe d. Austria
4. The World Health Organization rates France #1 for best “health care system“, followed by Italy #2, and… Japan #10. In tiers composed of ten countries (the countries named above are in the first tier), the United States is placed in which tier of ten countries:
a. First ten b. Second ten c. Third ten d. Fourth ten.
5. Of the top 45 countries in the industrial world, every one provides health coverage for every man, woman and child, rich or poor, young or old--- except the United States, where 22,000 people are allowed to die every year for want of health insurance. This difference can be attributed to:
a. Price of democracy b. Too many illegals
c. High cost of technology d. for-profit health insurance system.
Here are the answers:
1. C…Germany. If you’ve always assumed that universal health care was some radical new give-away program contrived by left-wingers, consider this: Otto Von Bismarck, introduced universal health insurance in the newly unified German states in 1873. He mandated that everyone be included, and that costs be shared by both employers and workers, a system still practiced around the world.
2. All of the above! The United States is the only industrialized country that allows health care to flourish as a profit-making, Wall Street industry. That’s the reason we have the most expensive system in the world, yet we tolerate over 30 million people living without any form of insurance.
3. C…Zimbabwe, of course. Or the Sudan…If you have no money and no insurance, whether you live in Bangladesh or the United States won’t matter. You’ll die sans care in either country.
4. D…The fourth tier: at #37...There aren’t many more countries in the industrial world that are lower. The poor rating is primarily for the number of people not covered by insurance despite the high costs of health care in America. We are, after all, the only wealthy nation that does not regard health care as a moral right, but as an earned privilege, resulting in a kind of social Darwinism.
5. The answer is D…for-profit health insurance.
This test is not designed to test your IQ for trivia, but to show how well our media keep you informed. If any of the answers above are first time revelations to you, consider that you have never in your life heard some of these facts discussed in the media; not even during the recent great debate on the subject of health care.
American media is controlled by a taboo system: if you value your job as a journalist or politician or even as a professional, there are some subjects that are closed to discussion or debate, off the table, axiomatic, a priori.
Most of the facts in this blog entry are taken from the excellent book by T.R Reid, “The Healing of America”, The Penguin Press, New York, 2009
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