The joys of free health care for all
Some places in the USA have already gotten on board with socialized medicine plans. Massachusetts tried it and nearly bankrupted the state.
San Francisco has it and here is one example of the consequences.
From the
San Francisco Chronicle:
Chronic drunks' treatment costs S.F. big bucks
San Francisco has paid at least $150,000 for Kenny Walters in the past year. He isn't employed, has an arrest record as long as his hair, and can often be found passed out in a doorway on Haight Street.
Kenny Walters' job is to get drunk.
He's certainly not alone. "Chronic inebriants" are a grim and disturbing fact of life in San Francisco. They also cost the city millions.
The frustration is that the public service network - police, fire and medical professionals - doesn't seem to make a dent when it comes to people like Walters. There are suggestions, like a pilot program for high-impact users at the Department of Public Health, or the Community Justice Center to target frequent users, but nothing seems to get traction.
A five-year study found that 225 high ambulance users cost the city an average of $13 million annually, said Maria X. Martinez, a deputy director at the Department of Public Health.
A bit more -- they interview him:
"I do get caught for drinking out here every day," he said affably. "I wish I had another beer right now."
He said he gets $953 a month in Supplemental Security Income for disabled and aged citizens and pays $650 a month for a hotel room in the Tenderloin under the city's Care Not Cash program.
With free meals available from local charities, that leaves $300 a month for booze. Walters says he doesn't do hard drugs, just pot. He just drinks, usually "40 ouncers," big, cheap bottles of beer.
All these highly thought of social programs and not one of them addresses the problem, they just support the abuser in their lifestyle. Moral high-ground but that ground is littered with people dying very expensively.
Posted by DaveH at August 24, 2009 7:47 PM