Commentary - Healthcare: A Regard for the Facts

by Barrie Dunsmore

At the bottom of this page is the following disclaimer: “All opinions expressed in Letters and Commentaries are those of the writers and not of The Charlotte News, which is published as an independent, nonprofit, non-biased community service and forum.”
That means what it says. What normally appears in this space are the writer’s own ideas and not those of The Charlotte News or its board of directors.
But not everyone pays much attention to such disclaimers. And when a writer with strong views on highly controversial subjects is published several times – and subsequent editions do not contain equally strong rebuttals to such controversial opinions – it would not be surprising that some readers might wonder if the writer did perhaps reflect the views of the paper. As a member of the board of The Charlotte News, I wish to address that question.
The last edition of The Charlotte News featured a commentary titled “Medicaid for All?” by Joseph P. Blanchette of Charlotte. It was not Mr. Blanchette’s first appearance on this page. In fact in recent times The Charlotte News published three previous commentaries by Mr. Blanchette in which he was scathingly critical of the conclusions of the majority of world scientists that climate change/global warming were planet-threatening problems. His latest commentary alleged the Obama administration’s proposed health care reform proposals represented a massive government takeover of the health care system that will prove to be, in his words, “the worst nightmare, especially for the elderly and most vulnerable.”
Mr. Blanchette is entitled to his opinion, but he is not entitled to his own facts. His last article is riddled with claims that are backed up only by the prejudices of those who are firmly opposed to any form of health care reform or the flimsiest of anecdotal evidence. At one point he states, “The rest of us will soon learn what the folks in Canada and England have learned: government health insurance may be okay if you stay healthy, but it’s horrific once you become ill.”
I have no doubt there are individuals who have had problems with their healthcare providers in every country. No system is perfect. But having lived much of my life in Britain, France, Italy and Canada, and unfortunately over the years, having needed to use the health care facilities in those and other countries, I strongly challenge Mr. Blanchette’s assertions. A few years ago, when I was living in London, I appeared to be having a heart attack. I took a taxi to the nearest hospital. They did not want to know if I was a resident or a tourist or if I had health insurance and if so with what company and what was the policy number and the group number and where should claims be filed. I was simply asked my name, age and symptoms, and within minutes I was in a bed, hooked up to an EKG machine and was being examined by a resident cardiologist.
But you don’t have to take my anecdotal evidence either. If one is to measure the effectiveness of any country’s healthcare system, one of the key pieces of evidence is the life expectancy of the people who live there. It so happens the Central Intelligence Agency publishes such data in its annual World FactBook. The CIA says life expectancy “is also a measure of overall quality of life in a country.” According to its 2009 report, Japan ranks highest of all major industrialized countries and number 3 overall with a life expectancy of 82.12 years. The Asian island of Macau and the Pyrenees principality of Andorra are number 1 and number 2. Canada is 8th, France 9th, Italy 19th, Germany 32nd and Great Britain 36th. The United States ranks number 50 in the world with a life expectancy of 78.11 years. (Albania ranks 51st, Cuba 55th.) A Canadian can expect to live more than three years longer than an American, despite the fact that this country spends roughly twice as much per person on its healthcare system as virtually every industrialized country.
There are many issues involving healthcare reform  that need public discussion. I believe The Charlotte News should use this  space to provide a diversity of views on this and other issues of importance  to Charlotters. It should always strive to achieve a balance of opinion over  time, and it should require that commentary writers make their points  with the highest regard for the facts.

Barrie Dunsmore is a member of the board of The Charlotte News. He was a longtime foreign and diplomatic correspondent for ABC News and has lived in Charlotte for the past decade.