nationmaster says USA has more per capita than NZ (2.3 per 1000 vs 2.2 per 1000).
welfare it says NZ spends 18.5% of gdp on welfare vs USA's 14.8%.
So we have less doctors, spend more money on welfare, low net taxation, and a good working public healthcare system.
Not saying you guys are gonna get this overnight, but the naysayers to public healthcare need to face the fact that it is being done successfully. I doubt NZ is the only country. Sure it's not perfect, but it sounds better than what you guys have.
The population of New Zealand is less than 4.4 million with a density of less than 42 people per square mile. The Dallas, Texas Metro Area (basically a few cities bunched together) which is where HTC is based out of.. has a population of just under 6.5 million with just under 3700 people per square mile. Keep in mind, this is one single metro area in one of fifty states with almost 50% more than your entire country. The United States has a total population of... what? 310 MILLION PEOPLE? Heck, the last time the US had the same population that NZ has now was in the 1790's!!!
My point is that running a government controlled health care system is a completely different endeavor for each of us. People in smaller countries such as yours often have a hard time understanding just how big this difference is! I saw someone else on here from NZ (may have even been you) who was scratching their head in disbelief that the US doesn't have nearly as much internet bandwidth, speed, consistency, or reliability as you do.. but the reason is because there is such a huge area, and such a large number and range of people... that it is nearly impossible to do...
Health care reform is a similar kind of deal. It will be on such a large scale that it will be impossible to implement, let alone to do so in an efficient and uncorrupted way. Throw in a government that was designed FROM THE BEGINNING to be purposely inefficient in order to keep people from wanting this sort of thing... and it's just a recipe for disaster.
You also have to remember that there are at least 3 levels of government here (for the most part)...
- Local Government (Each city/town has their own laws and government figures)
- State Government
- Federal Government
Of course State trumps Local laws, and Federal trumps them all... but it's three levels of Government each person has to deal with. Because of why and how this country formed, the Federal Government was designed to have very little actual power. I mean, we broke away from a monarchist Government mostly due to their abuse of power, and as a direct result of that we designed our Federal Government to have a lot of checks and balances, and also designed it so the population would be discouraged from wanting them to control issues on things.. just like this.
Now the State government is a little different. These Governments were designed to have a lot more impact on each persons' lives... so in essence, the State Government (from the population's points of view) should be much, much more powerful than the Federal Government. And this was plausible because if it got to be too ridiculous, you could simply move to another state.
Well over the years (especially the last century) the Federal Government has inched its way along becoming gradually more and more a part of the average person's life... starting with the old "New Deal" programs and then getting involved with education funding and employment and retirement... more recently with "Stimulus Recovery Programs" and now they want to add health care to that list?! It's simply ridiculous even to the point that it is, that the Federal Government has as much power as it does.
I could continue to go on and on about the subject but I have to stop here, as I don't want to be the one responsible for locking this thread... but the simple fact is that the American Public should not only reject a Federal Controlled health care program.. but SHOULD BE OBLIGATED TO DO SO based on principle. Many people have forgotten this obligation.
Now, if each State wants to maybe propose their own versions of health care reform... depending on what it would entail I may be for or against it... but regardless it would be the responsibility of each state to do so... NOT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.