On 10/16/07, Chris Smolinski wrote: > > > >Then why do health care costs decrease and quality increases with a > >single payer health care system like Canada? > > http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071015/wl_uk_afp/britainhealthdentists Aside from my butchering of the English language that Chris quoted... :P The message that I get from that article is consistent with what I was saying: "More typically, a lack of publicly-funded dentists means that growing numbers go private: 78 percent of private patients said they were there because they could not find a National Health Service (NHS) dentist, and only 15 percent because of better treatment." The problem with single payer is the rationing of care, and basic economic theory says this will happen. It is a flawed system, but like democracy, it's the best one we've got. As a %age of GDP, systems like France, Canada, and the UK come out ahead. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of the Invisible Hand but there are cases where it simply doesn't work. Alex -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist