Think about it my fellow Americans, think about it very hard.
There is actually a legal requirement stipulating that patients should not be forced to wait ”longer than 6 mos”. Really. Socialized medicine in the raw. Health insurance (heh…free) does not mean actual health care.
Dentists in capital report huge differences in waiting lists
Increased pressure on dental services at the start of the year has put further pressure on the capital’s dental services, health cheifs say. Helsinki health authority reports that over 13,000 patients are queuing for an appointment, with some waiting times exceeding the six-month legal requirement. Meanwhile residents of neighbouring Espoo can find and book an available slot straightaway over the phone.
Health authorities in the capital region are reporting large differences in waiting times for dental care.
In Helsinki, health chiefs report that demand for dental care increased noticeably at the start of the year, with long queues also reported in Vantaa.
Patients needing to see a dentist are continuing to face long waits in Helsinki. The city reports that the backlog of non-urgent appointments currently runs to over 13,000 people. Some of those have been queuing for over six months for an appointment, exceeding the maximum waiting time set down by law.
The waiting list grew at the start of the year, according to chief dentist for the Helsinki health authority, Merja Auero.
“In Helsinki demand for dental services at health centres has grown massively. Earlier this year we were seeing around 1,000 new requests to see a dentist every week, compared to around 700 the year before,” she said.
In Canada we have no socialized dental care. If money is short we just let our teeth rot.
Is the American system any better? If you do not have enough money for insurance than you have to let your teeth rot? Which system is more humane? At least in Finland you can choose from two alternatives, going to private clinic on your own expanse, where you can receive threatment much faster than in public clinic or you can wait to get threatment in public clinic for free if you do not have money for buying private insurance. Is there possibility to choose from two alternatives in US? How can poor people get their dental problems fixed if they do not have money for it in US?
The American system is indeed better, you don’t scrap an entire system to placate a small minority. By your own admission, utopian social medicine doesn’t deliver, so an average patient has to wait 6 moss to a year to have their teeth repaired, (and in effect, paying twice for the same work, through taxes for the welfare state and socialized medicine) and in the US, only a small minority will have to use public services due to government intrusion, and their own financial predicament. Therein lies the big difference. No health care system should be mandated and operated by the state, private care, without the fetters of an over reaching government, will always provide far better care.