One of the benefits of living in Europe, Canada, or Taiwan is the national health care system that each of these parts of the world has set up. But I’m always saddened that the health care system in the states is so inefficient that nearly 50 million people have NO healthcare coverage at all. Thankfully there are Medicaid and Medicare programs set up to cover disadvantaged groups, and there are plans such as medigap that cover the additional costs not covered by by Medicaid or Medicare. Given that these are socially disadvantaged groups, it seems bizarre that they are then expected to pay additional premiums to a private company to cover these additional benefits.
But while there are concerns in each of the countries that their National Health Care programs are unsustainable in the long term, one has to wonder what madness possesses the government of the ‘richest country’ in the world to deny universal health care to its own citizens. Yes, health care standards MAY be the highest in the world, but what good does that do when 1/6 of the population has NO medical cover what so ever! Let’s put that in proportion: 50 million people is the size of a large European country, it’s bigger than many provinces in China, it would place that country as No. 24 in the list of world countries that’s marginally more than South Korea, oh wait… what kind of system do they have?