[H]ow can one explain the following facts: 1) he signed "Romneycare" into law; 2) "Obamacare" is basically identical to "Romneycare;" 3) Romney claims he hates "Obamacare" and would work to repeal it; and 4) Romney now has heaped praise on Israel's government-run, universal, "socialized" health care system?
Romney, who championed the Massachusetts health care mandate, but is an opponent of the federal mandate passed by President Barack Obama, marveled at how little Israel spends on health care relative to the United States.
"Do you realize what health care spending is as a percentage of the GDP in Israel? eight percent," Romney told donors at a fundraiser at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, speaking of a health care system that is compulsory for Israelis and funded by the government. "You spend eight percent of GDP on health care. You're a pretty healthy nation. We spend 18% of our GDP on health care. Ten percentage points more. That gap, that 10 percent cost, compare that with the size of our military - our military which is four percent - four percent. Our gap with Israel is 10 points of GDP. We have to find ways - not just to provide health care to more people, but to find ways to find and manage our health care costs."
Of course, this is EXACTLY the point many of us who pushed for Medicare for all, or robust public option, have been attempting to explain for a loooong time -- namely, that the U.S. health care system costs a lot more than other industrial democracies' health care systems, yet delivers far worse results. In other words, we get among the least "bang for the buck" of any advanced nation in the world in terms of health care, in a system that is mostly based on for-profit health insurance companies. The fact that Romney is busy praising Israel's system of "socialized medicine" is fascinating on many levels, not the least of which is the utter disconnect between everything he's been saying in this year's presidential campaign. It's also a case study on the lengths to which Romney will go to pander to whatever audience he happens to be in, and to say ANYTHING to kiss their butts.
A piece in the Washington Post looks more closely at how Israel has achieved its successful health care system:
How it has gotten there, however, may not be to the Republican candidate’s liking: Israel regulates its health care system aggressively, requiring all residents to carry insurance and capping revenue for various parts of the country’s health care system.
Israel created a national health care system in 1995, largely funded through payroll and general tax revenue. The government provides all citizens with health insurance: They get to pick from one of four competing, nonprofit plans. Those insurance plans have to accept all customers—including people with pre-existing conditions—and provide residents with a broad set of government-mandated benefits.
Israel’s lower health care spending does not look to sacrifice the quality of care. It has made more improvements than the United States on numerous quality metrics, and the country continues to have a higher life expectancy.
How’d they do it? Jack Zwanziger and Shuli Brammli-Greenberg took a crack at that question in a 2011 Health Affairs paper. The answer, they say, has a lot to do with “strong government influence: The national government exerts direct operational control over a large proportion of total health care expenditures, through a range of mechanisms, including caps on hospital revenue and national contracts with salaried physicians.
The Ministry of Finance has been able to persuade the national government to agree to relatively small increases in the health care budget because the system has performed well, with a very high level of public satisfaction.
Israel is another example of how the GOP sacrifices the needs of citizens for medical industry and pharmacuetical company profits. The fact that Americans are needlessly dying and paying needless exorbidate amounts for healthcare means nothing to Mitt Romney and today's GOP.
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