Government-run health care: Ireland cancels scheduled surgeries to cut costs

Story from Irish Central. (H/T Secondhand Smoke via ECM)

Excerpt:

Three Irish surgeons have revealed that they are being paid a whopping $350,000 to do nothing. The three orthopedic consultants at Letterkenny General HospitalCounty Donegal have revealed that the Irish Health Service is paying them to “sit around doing nothing” while operating theaters are empty. Senior consultant and team leader, Peter O’Rourke said he is “frustrated and depressed” about the current working climate in Letterkenny General Hospital. The surgeon claims there is little or no work for his team in the busy hospital despite massive waiting lists for essential knee and hip surgeries known as elective surgeries. The health service has put such surgeries on hold until next year as the “elective” budget has overrun by $3.3 million.

It might be a good time to check out Thomas Sowell’s four-part series on the economics of health care cost-cutting in a government-run system. This story from Ireland shows how the government “cuts costs” in a government-run system. They ration health care services and products for the elderly, who have paid into the system their whole lives.

As I’ve said before, government-run health care is about equalizing life outcomes regardless of personal health and lifestyle decisions. It’s about giving some people health based on need because of their own choices, including sex changes, drug needles, in vitro fertilization, abortions, etc. And the care is paid for by people who avoided those costly behaviors, but have their incomes garnished in order to pay for the decisions of others who engage in costly behaviors.

“From each according to his ability, to each according to his need” – Karl Marx. This is Obama’s worldview, in my opinion, and the worldview of all those who voted for him.

 

4 thoughts on “Government-run health care: Ireland cancels scheduled surgeries to cut costs”

  1. My Dad voted for Obama and he isn’t anything like a Marxist–just a clueless old dude that watches (way) too much CNN/Stewart/NPR.

    Like

    1. Fine, maybe I was angry when I wrote that and exaggerated just a teeny bit. but does your Dad think that the government should pay for lots of things that he shouldn’t have to worry about?

      Like

      1. Sure, like I said: he gets all of his info from CNN/NPR/Stewart so he suffers from soft-liberal dementia, i.e. he thinks he’s a “moderate”.

        Like

Leave a reply to Wintery Knight Cancel reply