Battin' 1.000

Well folks, I'm perfect so far in this new school year. Just got a progress report from the prof, and I am currently getting 100% for the quarter. Roughly two weeks into school. Ok, so its not that big of a deal. But I got a kick out of the email. I felt like I should print it out and hang it on the fridge.

Just did a lil' report on the Canadian health care system, and I gotta say them Canucks are onto something. Their system, also called Medicare, insures every Canadian for any medically necessary service for any resident, regardless of ability to pay. In fact you pay nothing when you go to the Doc. Cuz the gov prepays for you and lets the Doc send in a bill later. Clever, no? Go figure, a health care system that focuses on patients and care instead of profits.

(Yeah dude, we know, we all saw Sicko.)

Well I didn't see it, so the homework was illuminating. Sure the CA system has its problems, namely waiting lists. But its a better system than not, and its a whole lot better than what we got here. The NYT this sunday had a nice piece about how our own Medicare, thru the Bushies' privatization of Medicare-Part D, is now fucking over old people and the disadvantaged. Sweet. No, really, this system works. People must have choice to see who they want! (Canadians do.) The market will provide for people at all levels, there will be some plan that everyone can afford, because that is how markets work! (No, it's not, especially not with regard to health care.) But thank god we have that compassionately conservative president to veto a bill to insure our kids, who complained that it just covered too many darn kids, and that has now successfully killed any chance the GOP had in 2008.

And, if you don't believe me that our system is fucked, just wait for this great PBS documentary coming in 2008 called "Unnatural Causes." Go check out the site too, tons of good info there. Like this factsheet on health disparities in the U.S.