Finland’s Government Collapses Over Universal Healthcare Costs. March 2019 :Part 2
Part 2
Stanley Feld MD,FACP,MACE
Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has been hanging his socialistic rhetoric on the success of Finland’s socialist society and especially Finland’s healthcare system which is supposed to be a free healthcare system for all.
The New York Times published the article “Finland is a Capitalist Paradise” on December 2, 2019.
On March 3,2019, Finland’s government collapsed because the universal healthcare costs were unsustainable.
President Donald Trump was correct when he said,
“Finland, of course, is one of those Nordic countries that we hear some Americans, including President Trump, describe as unsustainable and oppressive — “socialist nanny states.”
The New York Times ridiculed President Trump in December 2, 2019 for saying that Finland is a socialist nanny state.
“Similar problems are bedeviling Sweden and Denmark, two other countries frequently held up as models to follow on health care. Finland’s crisis in particular comes as calls for universal health care have grown louder among Democrats in the United States.”
Americans have heard from few in the mainstream media about the collapse of Finland’s government or the reasons for that collapse.
Norway is excused from this discussion because Norway has become a very rich country from its North Sea oil income and its restrictive immigration policies. It is the citizen’s sugar daddy along with a 50% tax rate.
The Kaiser Family Foundation found that 58 percent of Americans oppose “Medicare for all” if told it would eliminate private health insurance plans, and 60 percent oppose it if it requires higher taxes.
Reuters reported that soaring treatment costs and longer life spans have particularly affected the Nordic countries financial problems.
“Nordic countries, where comprehensive welfare is the cornerstone of the social model, have been among the most affected,” according to Reuters. “But reform has been controversial and, in Finland, plans to cut costs and boost efficiency have stalled for years.”
Just a few days before Finland’s government collapsed over its inability to foot the bill for its expansive socialist experiment, Sanders took to Twitter in an attempt to shame America.
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“In the United States it costs, on average, $12,000 to have a baby. In Finland it costs $60. We’ve got to end the disgrace of our profit-driven health care system and pass Medicare for all.”
Bernie Sanders is not being honest with the American people.
“With the collapse of Finland’s government over its inability to financially support its massive socialist agenda, Bernie will undoubtedly do the same thing he always does when socialism (or communism) fails: ignore, obfuscate, and deflect.”
We only have to remember Vermont’s “Medicare for All” failure.
Bernie Sanders and AOC should read Finland and Sweden’s newspapers to understand that the people are unhappy with free but unavailable medical care. The unhappiness of the citizens historically happens in every socialist state run healthcare system..
If Democrats are successful in getting “Medicare for All” into law, America will face the same dilemma in the future
“The social welfare and health care reform was one of our government’s most important objectives,” Sipilä said at a press briefing. “The snapshot of the situation that I got from the parliament obliged me to examine if there was a possibility of continuing the reform process. There wasn’t.”
“My conclusion was that my government had to hand in our note of resignation,” he added. “I take my responsibility.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/finlands-government-collapses-over-failed-health-care-reform/
Finland has a decentralized system of health and social welfare programs, where much of the administration is left to local municipalities. This arrangement has led to widespread geographic variation when it comes to quality and access to health care services.
The reform was meant to address these inequalities and reduce the growing cost of the country’s health care system, which has come under increasing stress from an ageing population. It included centralization of the administration at a regional level.”
Finland has been held up as a model welfare state. The distribution of the resulting high taxes is spent on the social issues the politicians think are most important and not what the citizens think are most important.
The government should not be telling the people what they need if a healthcare system is to succeed. The people should decide on what they need and be responsible for their own care. The government should protect the people from both government and corporate abuse in a free enterprise system.
The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are, mine and mine alone.
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