The tragic death of actress Natasha Richardson last week is a glimpse into our universal medical care future. Ski industry officials in Colorado should be terrified. Ms. Richardson, skiing in Canada, fell on a bunny slope and hit her head. When it became apparent that she had a life-threatening brain bleed, her family made a valiant attempt to fly her to NYC, where she would get proper care. But it was too late. US-based doctors were quick to note that this death was unnecessary, and that with adequate care her injury would have been recognized and emergency surgery would have likely saved her.
Ahh, but this was in Canada, land of cheap and holy single-payer health care. So admirable because it's cheap. Let's have Cheap here! Well, it's easy to be cheap when life-saving CAT scans and MRIs are being booked months in advance. It's hard to get proper emergency care when you have a head injury and you have to wait months for a scan. Voila, the cheap system saves money by not scanning patients and not doing emergency surgery. In a display of spectacular coincidence, the "ER" episode that night showed a non-stop parade of patients being whisked off for CAT scans to evaluate whether a brain bleed would necessitate emergency life-saving surgery. Meanwhile Ms. Richardson's relatives were dealing with her loss.
The Democrats are forging ahead with plans to force universal medical care on all of us, whether we want it or not. And once they do, it's Good By ski industry. And cross country ski industry. And mountain biking, road biking, rock climbing and mountain climbing and horseback riding. Probably even sleigh rides. Once we're forced into universal medical care, services will start to slide, just as they have in Canada. They will be unavailable; they will be over-booked. People who once went into medicine will now go into other fields that have nothing to do with heavy-handed government-controlled bureaucracy and salary caps. It will only take one or two high profile accidents in Colorado to turn people off to skiing and other outdoor activities that have the remotest risk of causing an injury that will not be adequately treated. Why not just sit on a beach or a cruise ship - it's safer. Any Democrats who support a universal medical system are in fact supporting the demise of Colorado tourism. If they object to this conclusion, than ask them this: does anyone right now fly to Canada for emergency medical care? End of discussion.