Finnish Government collapses because of socialized medicine
Mar 9, 2019 13:53:03 #
Resigned Finnish Prime Minister and leader of the Center Party Juha Sipila / Getty Images
BY: Jeffrey Cimmino
March 8, 2019 5:10 pm
The government of Finland collapsed Friday due to the rising cost of universal health care and the prime minister's failure to enact reforms to the system.
Prime Minister Juha Sipila and the rest of the cabinet resigned after the governing coalition failed to pass reforms in parliament to the country's regional government and health services, the Wall Street Journal reports. Finland faces an aging population, with around 26 percent of its citizens expected to be over 65 by the year 2030, an increase of 5 percent from today.
Sipila's reforms "intended to remove power from the 295 municipalities that currently oversee health and social care, and place responsibility within a leaner, more efficient system of 18 elected regional authorities," according to the Journal. The prime minister also wanted patients to be able to choose from a range of public and private providers.
Sipila said "there's no other way for Finland to succeed" besides these reforms, which could have led to $3.4 billion in savings for the government.
Finland's aging population is increasing the financial strain on its health care system. From a BBC News report:
As an increasing number of people live longer in retirement, the cost of providing pension and healthcare benefits can rise. Those increased costs are paid for by taxes collected from of the working-age population – who make up a smaller percentage of the population than in decades past.
In 2018, those aged 65 or over made up 21.4% of Finland's population, the fourth highest after Germany, Portugal, Greece, and Italy, according to Eurostat.
Finland's welfare system is also generous in its provisions, making it relatively expensive. Attempts at reform have plagued Finnish governments for years.
Reuters reports that soaring treatment costs and longer life spans have particularly affected Nordic countries.
"Nordic countries, where comprehensive welfare is the cornerstone of the social model, have been among the most affected," according to Reuters. "But reform has been controversial and, in Finland, plans to cut costs and boost efficiency have stalled for years."
Similar problems are bedeviling Sweden and Denmark, two other countries frequently held up as models to follow on health care. Finland's crisis in particular comes as calls for universal health care have grown louder among Democrats in the United States.
Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I., Vt.) "Medicare for all" proposal would cost the U.S. over $32 trillion over ten years, according to an analysis by the Mercatus Center. It would also require enormous tax increases as "a doubling of all currently projected federal individual and corporate income tax collections would be insufficient to finance the added federal costs of the plan."
Another Democratic p**********l candidate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.), has called for eliminating private health insurance, although a spokesperson suggested she is open to multiple paths to "Medicare for all."
Self-described democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) has also called for "Medicare for all."
The Kaiser Family Foundation found that 58 percent of Americans oppose "Medicare for all" if told it would eliminate private health insurance plans, and 60 percent oppose it if it requires higher taxes.
BY: Jeffrey Cimmino
March 8, 2019 5:10 pm
The government of Finland collapsed Friday due to the rising cost of universal health care and the prime minister's failure to enact reforms to the system.
Prime Minister Juha Sipila and the rest of the cabinet resigned after the governing coalition failed to pass reforms in parliament to the country's regional government and health services, the Wall Street Journal reports. Finland faces an aging population, with around 26 percent of its citizens expected to be over 65 by the year 2030, an increase of 5 percent from today.
Sipila's reforms "intended to remove power from the 295 municipalities that currently oversee health and social care, and place responsibility within a leaner, more efficient system of 18 elected regional authorities," according to the Journal. The prime minister also wanted patients to be able to choose from a range of public and private providers.
Sipila said "there's no other way for Finland to succeed" besides these reforms, which could have led to $3.4 billion in savings for the government.
Finland's aging population is increasing the financial strain on its health care system. From a BBC News report:
As an increasing number of people live longer in retirement, the cost of providing pension and healthcare benefits can rise. Those increased costs are paid for by taxes collected from of the working-age population – who make up a smaller percentage of the population than in decades past.
In 2018, those aged 65 or over made up 21.4% of Finland's population, the fourth highest after Germany, Portugal, Greece, and Italy, according to Eurostat.
Finland's welfare system is also generous in its provisions, making it relatively expensive. Attempts at reform have plagued Finnish governments for years.
Reuters reports that soaring treatment costs and longer life spans have particularly affected Nordic countries.
"Nordic countries, where comprehensive welfare is the cornerstone of the social model, have been among the most affected," according to Reuters. "But reform has been controversial and, in Finland, plans to cut costs and boost efficiency have stalled for years."
Similar problems are bedeviling Sweden and Denmark, two other countries frequently held up as models to follow on health care. Finland's crisis in particular comes as calls for universal health care have grown louder among Democrats in the United States.
Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I., Vt.) "Medicare for all" proposal would cost the U.S. over $32 trillion over ten years, according to an analysis by the Mercatus Center. It would also require enormous tax increases as "a doubling of all currently projected federal individual and corporate income tax collections would be insufficient to finance the added federal costs of the plan."
Another Democratic p**********l candidate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.), has called for eliminating private health insurance, although a spokesperson suggested she is open to multiple paths to "Medicare for all."
Self-described democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) has also called for "Medicare for all."
The Kaiser Family Foundation found that 58 percent of Americans oppose "Medicare for all" if told it would eliminate private health insurance plans, and 60 percent oppose it if it requires higher taxes.
Mar 9, 2019 14:23:30 #
TommyRadd
Loc: Midwest USA
badbobby wrote:
Resigned Finnish Prime Minister and leader of the ... (show quote)
Oh darn the luck, who knew they'd run out of other people's money? But somehow, we're supposed to pretend it will end differently here? When will the insanity end? Come, Lord Jesus!
Mar 9, 2019 14:30:35 #
badbobby wrote:
Resigned Finnish Prime Minister and leader of the ... (show quote)
This is because it wasn't done right. Democrats will get it right this time and at no cost to me. They will just take it from that rich guy behind the tree.
Mar 9, 2019 15:37:30 #
son of witless wrote:
This is because it wasn't done right. Democrats will get it right this time and at no cost to me. They will just take it from that rich guy behind the tree.
If they do take it from the rich guy, they will steal it for themselves.
Mar 9, 2019 16:32:23 #
vernon wrote:
If they do take it from the rich guy, they will steal it for themselves.
The rich guy will bribe them or pay protection money through his friendly neighborhood lobbyist. The middle class has no lobbyist. The taxpayer and working man and woman have no lobbyist.
Mar 10, 2019 07:02:48 #
TommyRadd wrote:
Oh darn the luck, who knew they'd run out of other people's money? But somehow, we're supposed to pretend it will end differently here? When will the insanity end? Come, Lord Jesus!
On my way!
Mar 10, 2019 11:56:26 #
my daughter, her husband and three children, all residents of the United Kingdom pay more for their "free medical" than my daughter, husband and two children who are residents of Maryland and pay for their medical. Not only that my maryland daughter, within days of having a serious ailment, will go into a first class hospital and have the wrong righted. My english daughter has joined the long line of medical impaired and has waited two years to have a serious operation. Never think that free medical, and its results are the finest.
Mar 10, 2019 14:05:47 #
dinosaur143 wrote:
my daughter, her husband and three children, all r... (show quote)
How dare you present facts to Good Hearted Liberals ? Can't you see they only want to help people ? So what if their plans always end in disaster ? It is their intentions that matter.
Mar 10, 2019 17:10:40 #
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