Politicized Healthcare: In Japan 75 year old man Dies after 36 Hospitals Rejected Him

Here is an example of what happens when healthcare system have been politicized: In Japan a 75 year man died after 36 hospitals rejected him.

From the Time.com (bold mine)

The issue is becoming a matter of increasing concern for Japanese health care experts; the man from Kuki is not the first to die after being turned away by hospitals. According to the Huffington Post, a 69-year-old Japanese man died in 2009 of head injuries after 14 hospitals refused to treat him, citing similar reasons. In fact, a 2007 Japanese government report said as many as 14,000 emergency patients were rejected at least three times before getting treatment, noted the Huffington Post.

Ironically, experts say, part of the problem lies in Japan’s low-cost healthcare system. According to the Washington Post, a hospital visit costs half as much in Japan as it does in the U.S. thanks to government subsidies — but as a result, emergency rooms are often flooded with patients seeking routine treatments. Problematically, there are no laws punishing hospitals for turning away sick people or penalties for patients who overuse the system.

This is a case of basic economics: artificially suppressed prices (via subsidies) engenders huge demand. Such results to overcrowding, which in turn leads to the turning away of sick people that increases the incidences of unnecessary deaths.

More politics such as “no laws punishing hospitals” will not solve economic issues.

This also serves as another example of how politics kills the constituency they are supposed to protect.

Socialized Healthcare: Intentions versus Reality

Socialized healthcare always seem as politically correct. That's because it is easy to sell compassion as a political theme. Gullible economically ignorant voters elect politicians who seem to connect with the needs of their constituents.

Unfortunately, free stuff in a world of scarcity is a fraud.

This from BBC, (bold highlights mine)

Surgeons say patients in some parts of England have spent months waiting in pain because of delayed operations or new restrictions on who qualifies for treatment.

In several areas routine surgery was put on hold for months, while in many others new thresholds for hip and knee replacements have been introduced.

The moves are part of the NHS drive to find £20bn efficiency savings by 2015.

The government said performance should be measured by outcomes not numbers.

Surgeons have described the delays faced by patients as "devastating and cruel". Peter Kay, the president of the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA), says they've become increasingly frustrated that hip and knee replacements are being targeted as a way of finding savings.

"We've started to get reports over the last nine months that access to these services are being restricted.

From Daily Mail, (hat tip: Dan Mitchell)

A former NHS director died after waiting for nine months for an operation - at her own hospital.

Margaret Hutchon, a former mayor, had been waiting since last June for a follow-up stomach operation at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex.

But her appointments to go under the knife were cancelled four times and she barely regained consciousness after finally having surgery.

Her devastated husband, Jim, is now demanding answers from Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust - the organisation where his wife had served as a non-executive member of the board of directors.

Healthcare consumes scarce resources. The problem is, who determines the resources to be used: us (via the marketplace) or bureaucrats (rationed based on political guidelines or connections).

For the latter, apparently good intentions end up with bad outcomes.