Seems Sweden not too happy with socialized medicine

dogtowner

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the bad vibes continue to resonate in the socialist eurozone. its not the answer.

Sweden and the Scandinavian countries in general are often cited by liberals here in America of how our government ought to govern. Specifically when it comes to health care.


But there’s a new trend on health care in Scandinavia. Fed up with long delays in accessing care, many of the country’s citizens are opting for private insurance, with the number increasing 400% over the last decade (via Mark Perry).
While Sweden has long taken pride in its public healthcare system, lengthening queues and at times inconsistent care have prompted many Swedes to opt for private healthcare with many gaining the benefit through insurance policies offered by employers, currently responsible for 80% of healthcare insurance market.


The idea behind private health insurance is simple enough: those put off by the idea of heading to publicly funded clinics and hospitals can purchase a policy through an insurance company and instead enjoy speedy medical attention with private doctors.


As many as 500,000 Swedes are now estimated to be using private healthcare insurance, up from 100,000 only ten years ago. And a flawed public system is often cited as the cause of the rapid expansion.


Long queues are one of the main complaints for consumers of Sweden’s public healthcare services, with patients sometimes forced to wait as much as fifteen times longer for treatment compared to private options.
This isn’t just happening in Sweden, either. Canada, too, has seen a boom in the number of opt-outs from its national health care system and in Great Britain reformers are attempting to water down that country’s national health care system and give citizens more private options (though that’s not been going so well so far for Prime Minister David Cameron).


The point in all of this is that the idea of government-controlled health care sounds good. The reality, though, is anything but good. It should worry Americans that as these other countries, who have long had government-run health care systems, move more toward allowing citizens private choice here we’re going in the opposite direction.
 
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