It seems like my country (the USA) has problems with health care, and so does much of the rest of the world. Perhaps the USA should do with health care what it has done (over the last 100 years) with agriculture. Then, we would be not only the "breadbasket of the world" but the "doctor of the world" as well.

That idea might be a bit too vague? If so, that is because agriculture in the USA is a complicated subject. So, I suggest you stop right here and skip the rest of my blah-blah-blah.But, if you insist...

Here are a few outstanding points about USA's agriculture today: 1 - Small farmers going out of business, replaced by corporations - due to "market pressures". 2 - Government must pay farmers "not to grow", to keep food prices from dropping too low. 3 - Government buys up excess production, and ships it off to hungry countries around the world. 4 - Tariffs protect market segments (like sugar beets) that would be crushed by foreign competition (like sugar cane). 5 - Labor imported from Mexico allows lower costs for certain crops like tomatoes. 6 - Genetic modifications improve profitability for corporate farm concerns, and keep small farmers beholding to seed producers.

To clarify, here's how some of those ideas would look in the realm of health care: 1 - Small doctor offices going out of business, replaced by corporate medical malls (mmmm - efficient !) 2 - Government pays corporate medical malls to send doctors on vacation, attracting new doctors to swell the supply of medical labor (lowering wage-costs). 3 - Government contracts with health corporations to employ any extra doctors they can hire for work overseas in poor or needy countries (that's generous, don't you think?). 4 - Tariffs protect market segments (like gender changes) that could otherwise be crushed by foreign competition (like Sweden). 5 - Labor imported from Mexico allows lower costs for certain services like whatever those poor medical students have to do now, for 80 hrs per week. 6 - Genetic medications improve profitability for corporate medicine, and keep small doctors beholding to pharmaceutical companies.
-- hlfbkr23, Oct 25 2003

This idea relies upon a bumper crop of doctors, however, and a drought year in lawyers.
-- RayfordSteele, Oct 28 2003


That procedure is in the initial phases (drought on lawyers) as they are begining to pass restrictions limiting the awards amounts on lawsuits.
Would a //bumper crop on doctors ... and a drought .. on lawyers// be just a tipping the scales to the proper balance?
-- Zimmy, Oct 28 2003


find a category for this too. give the moderators a break..
-- po, Nov 08 2003



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