+Slimy Goop Strangely enough, most other countries in the West have a greater degree of government intervention in healthcare and have better outcomes than the US. Even before the ACA, there was a degree of government intervention in health care with medicare, medicaid and the requirement for hospitals to treat casualties regardless of their ability to pay - if it wasn't for those, the poor would have very little (if any) access to healthcare.
Governments (local or national) are also usually responsible for road and footway maintenance, street lights, parks, social care (children, adults, elderly), police, military (in the US the concept of local militias which joined together to form a standing army only when needed for no longer than needed died out over a century ago, while the standing army [+ navy + air force] has access to far better kit than individuals could ever hope to obtain - and much more besides.
Of course, the endless debate is which services should be provided entirely by the private sector and paid for by service users, entirely by the private sector and paid for by the government, mainly by the private sector with government support for those on low incomes, or entirely by the government; and in the latter two cases, which tier of government (national, regional, local) would be best placed to deliver.
archived 4 Jun 2014 01:02:47 UTC
