How socialized medicine actually works

[Seth]

Oh look! Slavery in the Marxist paradise of Cuba. How long till the UK, Canada and every other Marxist paradise does the same? Time to jump the fence doctors. Come on over to the US, where you can still make money being a doctor.

By Daniel Trotta

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba on Tuesday re-imposed limits on doctors leaving the country, saying its universal and free healthcare services have been "seriously affected" by the flight of vital medical specialists.

In a rare backtrack by Cuba on modernizing reforms of recent years, the Communist government said it would reapply restrictions that had been lifted in 2013.

Cuba said it was responding to a U.S. program that seeks to drain its former Cold War enemy of doctors, nurses and other specialists working in third countries. The Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program, begun in 2006, remains in effect even though President Barack Obama restored diplomatic relations with Cuba this year.

Medical professionals now need special permission to leave the Caribbean island for personal travel, marking the second restriction imposed on Cuban emigration in a week amid a crisis in Central America, where thousands of Cubans trying to reach the United States have been stuck at border crossings.

Ecuador on Thursday began requiring visas for Cubans traveling to that South American country, cutting off one route Cubans had preferred to reach the United States.

From Ecuador, where until Monday Cubans could fly without a visa, they start a 7,000-km (4,400-mile) overland journey involving eight illegal border crossings to reach the U.S. border. Once there, Cubans receive preferential treatment to enter and obtain permanent residence with relative ease.

A sudden spike in November led Nicaragua to seal its southern border with Costa Rica, where some 4,000 Cubans are stuck in harsh conditions. Another 850 are backed up in Panama, unable to cross into Costa Rica.

While attributing the exodus to "fundamentally economic motivations," Cuba also blamed U.S. policies that welcome Cubans while immigrants from neighboring countries face deportation.

In bilateral migration talks in Washington on Monday, Cuba said it "once again demanded the elimination" of those provisions.

The Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program encourages doctors to abandon overseas assignments for the United States. Cuba generates major export earnings by sending more than 50,000 health workers to more than 60 countries, funding healthcare at home but also aggravating the doctor shortage. Cuba also sends many doctors abroad on missions of mercy.

Restrictions long imposed by Cuba on doctors were lifted by a general immigration law in 2013 that gave Cubans wider freedom to leave. For decades it had been very difficult for any Cuban to travel abroad and even more so for medical personnel.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Steve Orlofsky

[Strontium Dog]

We have had universal healthcare for more than 70 years and it hasn't happened yet. Actually our government is more likely to block medical staff from coming into the country, not prevent them leaving.

[Jason]

Do you ever include source links for these stories?

[mistermack]

Do you ever include source links for these stories?

Because his source articles are usually from loonies.

[Tero]

Well, they paid for the "free" education. Doctors should contract to work that off in say 15-20 years.

[JimC]

Works just fine in Oz...

(a public health system with universal health cover in partnership with a robust private health system)

[Seth]

We have had universal healthcare for more than 70 years and it hasn't happened yet. Actually our government is more likely to block medical staff from coming into the country, not prevent them leaving.

Actually, your new doctors are about to go on strike in the UK because of working conditions and wage complaints, or had you missed that bit of local news?

And I didn't say your government did bar doctors from leaving, I speculated that it soon will do so as UK doctors flee the country for places where they aren't treated like slaves and can make decent money.

TANSTAAFL dude.

[Seth]

Do you ever include source links for these stories?

When it pleases me to do so. Otherwise you can google "reuters cuba doctors" you lazy slut!

[Jason]

Do you ever include source links for these stories?

When it pleases me to do so. Otherwise you can google "reuters cuba doctors" you lazy slut!

[Seth]

Do you ever include source links for these stories?

Because his source articles are usually from loonies.

Yeah, Reuters is pretty loonie...

[Seth]

Well, they paid for the "free" education. Doctors should contract to work that off in say 15-20 years.

So much for your Socialist ideological purity. Their education was supposed to be "free", provided gratis by the Marxist State. If the Marxist State did not have them sign a contract, then they should be free to leave. They should be free to leave no matter what, even if they must pay off their education.

Anyway, they should be able to pay off the Cuban medical school bill in full, in cash, after working at a fast-food joint in the US for about a week, because that's all a Cuban medical education is worth.

[Seth]

Works just fine in Oz...

(a public health system with universal health cover in partnership with a robust private health system)

No it doesn't, you just think it does because you're not paying for it and there's OPM left for the government to loot. When the OPM runs out because other people are sick and tired of being dunned for your medical bills and they quit producing wealth, or flee the country, the public health system (which factually isn't that great to begin with, what with all the care rationing and denials people in Oz suffer through) will collapse, as it must in any socialist system.

[JimC]

Works just fine in Oz...

(a public health system with universal health cover in partnership with a robust private health system)

No it doesn't, you just think it does because you're not paying for it and there's OPM left for the government to loot. When the OPM runs out because other people are sick and tired of being dunned for your medical bills and they quit producing wealth, or flee the country, the public health system (which factually isn't that great to begin with, what with all the care rationing and denials people in Oz suffer through) will collapse, as it must in any socialist system.

Oh fuck off, Seth. You know nothing about how systems in other countries work, and it's none of your fucking business anyway...

[Tero]

Well, they paid for the "free" education. Doctors should contract to work that off in say 15-20 years.

So much for your Socialist ideological purity. Their education was supposed to be "free", provided gratis by the Marxist State. If the Marxist State did not have them sign a contract, then they should be free to leave. They should be free to leave no matter what, even if they must pay off their education.

Anyway, they should be able to pay off the Cuban medical school bill in full, in cash, after working at a fast-food joint in the US for about a week, because that's all a Cuban medical education is worth.

The medical schools still will attract the best candidates, even if socialist. They probably cannot attract foreigners, so the local people get trained. If you train a bunch of Cubans and they all leave, where will a poor socialist state recruit more candidates?

Nothing but tourism and a little car repair is working in Cuba anymore.

[Strontium Dog]

We have had universal healthcare for more than 70 years and it hasn't happened yet. Actually our government is more likely to block medical staff from coming into the country, not prevent them leaving.

Actually, your new doctors are about to go on strike in the UK because of working conditions and wage complaints, or had you missed that bit of local news?

As of today, the strike is off. I guess you're a bit behind on the news over there.

And I didn't say your government did bar doctors from leaving, I speculated that it soon will do so as UK doctors flee the country for places where they aren't treated like slaves and can make decent money.

Well, you know, if it hasn't happened after 70 years, there's a fair chance it never will.