LONDON — In America, the health care debate is about to come to a boil. President Barack Obama has put pressure on both houses of Congress to pass versions of his flagship domestic legislative program prior to their August recess.

Good luck.

Opponents are filling the airwaves with the usual litany of lies, damned lies and statistics about socialized medicine and the twin nightmare of bureaucratically rationed health care and high taxes amongst allies like Britain, France and Germany.

I think the key phrase there is…”Opponents are filling the airwaves with the usual litany of lies, damned lies and statistics about socialized medicine…”. The biggest lie we are told year after year is that our healthcare system is the best in the world. The trouble is, our American sense of pride makes that an easy lie to pull off. Most of my fellow citizens have no clue at what level American health care falls. To bad by almost every measure we rank right about even with Albania…Sorry Albania…

We have a bunch of little monopolies paying off our elected officials to protect their little piece of the pie. And any threat to the pie brings out the high priced lobbyists and ex-public officials (sometime one and the same) to keep the rules from changing.

Then when you read the following, you start to question your own sanity…

Each system is unique (as are all the systems around Europe) but they have two things in common that make them different from the United States: Coverage is universal and the cost of care as a percentage of GDP is significantly less.

For Europeans — even those who would label themselves conservatives — American attitudes to setting up a universal health care system with strong state participation and management seem bizarre. The peace of mind that comes from knowing that in an emergency you will be taken care of and you won’t be financially ruined has no price. Why resist it?

Beccy Ashton, policy adviser at health care think tank The King’s Fund, worked for more than half a decade in the U.S. She explains the difference this way: “In Europe healthcare is regarded as a human right. In America, people think of it as a commodity that you buy.”

And to think, the only thing we know for sure is that the other party is happy with the system as it is…And will fight to keep it like that. Millions uninsured, everyone just a health crisis away from fiscal ruin, dysfunctional health care at almost every level.  What does that say about our two party system? Ask your Senator where he or she stands on fair health care for all…You may find you don’t like the answer, if you actually get one. Just whatever you do, don’t let them lie to you about how good our health care system really is.

via Where the health care debate seems bizarre | GlobalPost