1003 Health Care in Democracies vs. Health Care in Truly Totally Socialist Countries

United States and some of the North European countries claim to provide a high level of health care to their citizens. Presidential Elections 2016 have been fought in United States, with Health Care as one of the heated and hyped agendas. Rulers of Democratic countries in Asia, Africa, South America, go to U.S.A., and Europe to study the Health Care facilities available in the "Heavens" there. Back home, the Rulers will mix various things and cook some other hodgepodge hotchpotch new Health Care Systems for implementation in their own countries. So far so good, okay. Still as a pessimist, cynic, critic, I have my own doubts about the Health Care System which is being implemented in those countries.

Related Links

Click here to go to https://www.airmedandrescue.com/features/no-room-inn. This link shows the problems of scarcity of ICU Beds in Europe. It deals with a problem of scarcity of ICU Beds, to patients who can afford to pay either out of their own resources or through some Health Insurance / Health Care Scheme. This problem can be addressed to in mid and long run, by the market mechanism of the Capitalist and bourgeoisie Systems of Demand and Supply. In this type of scarcities, 'patient dumping' rarely takes place. Reason: Patients are affluent, and they can go for alternative hospitals, in alternative countries.

What I am interested is about "patient-dumping", in respect of those who cannot pay.

Ordinarily, State-run hospitals are expected to take up the burden of the poor patients. In addition, Charity and Religious Missionary Hospitals are expected to come to the rescue of those patients who cannot pay, in the bourgeoisie economies. But that seldom happens. May be, demand for charity, and religious missionary zeal outstrips their supply. Or alternatively, even charities, and missionary organisations can turn COVERTLY COMMERCIAL. In this setting, 'patient-dumping' may take place secretly.

HEALTH CARE CONDITIONS IN INDIA, WHICH IS THEORETICALLY A WELFARE-STATE

SOME STATE GOVERNMENTS HAVE SCHEMES TO REIMBURSE PRIVATE HOSPITALS

India is an extremely over-populated country. We are like ants in an ant-hill. Bulk of the population is poor. They cannot afford any type of in-patient or ICU health care. They can't buy Health Insurance. IN some States, the State Govts. are operating Health Care Schemes, which provide medical reimbursements to Private Hospitals, for in-patient treatments, surgical procedures, in respect of selected serious diseases.

In these States, one important observation which can be made is: Budget Allocations for reimbursements to Private Hospitals are far higher, when compared to budget allocations for purchase of medicines,equipment, linen etc. in the Govt. Hospitals. Govt. Hospitals are literally starved, in the sense that patients are made to starve for food. Govt. Doctors habitually ask the relatives of patients to buy medicines in private medical shops, and bring.

CONDITIONS IN STATE-RUN HOSPITALS

Ordinarily, Government Hospitals in India are overstretched by the demands from rising populations. Owing to scarcity of doctors in Govt. Hospitals, they have started attending private hospitals on full time, visiting their regular jobs now and then, treating them as part-time jobs. Para-medical Staff in Govt. Hospitals, owing to their getting overstretched, started demanding bribes, regularly. Funds intended for purchasing medicines, food, linen, replacement beds, diagnostic equipment etc. get diverted.

In these circumstances, some people, who cannot afford treatment in private hospitals, started getting admitted into private hospitals, without knowing the bizarre consequences, they are going to face, and without knowing the hardships their sons and daughters will be put to, for raising monies to pay the hospital bills.

Once a patient enters a Private Sector Super Speciality Hospital in India, what the sons and daughters of the patients have to do? Just go on paying hundreds of thousands of Rupees into the Hospital Counters, every two three days, depending on the Hospital, and the ailment. In the process, the relatives of the patients, incur debts at high rate of interest, sell/pledge family gold, sell/mortgage homes, beg, borrow , steal. Sometimes, there may be frequent threats of removing ventilators etc. if the amounts are not deposited in time. Thus, it is not the patient who undergoes stresses and strains, but it is their supporting relatives who are asked to deposit monies on short notice. There are numerous instances of hospitals with-holding delivery of the dead body of the patient, till all the pending bills are paid by relatives.

INEQUALITIES IN HEALTH CARE PROVIDED AT GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS

In case of Very Important Persons (VIPs) such as politicians, high level bureaucrats, Government of India, and the State Governments, send them abroad for Advanced Treatment. The Governments also foots their Overseas Medical Bills, running into millions of Rupees. The latest example for this Maharaja Treatment: Mr. Ram Bilas Paswan, a Central Minister, went to UK for getting his heart problem treated.

Ms. Sonia Gandhi, MP, and Congress President, goes to United States frequently for medical checkup and treatment. It is not clear, whether she foots her own bill , or the Government of India bears the expenses, as she may be eligible for that, as the widow of Former Prime Minister, and as M.P. The question here is why all our VIPs continuously and consistently feel that they will be alright only when they get treated abroad? On the one hand, India is boasting of Inward Medical Tourism Development!!!

With millions spent on one ViP for treatment in London---

at least one Government hospital can be run with ample supplies of medicines for one year.

Question: You write of True Total Socialism which is nothing but utopian. Now, you write clearly how you are going to prevent Patient Dumping?

Ans: India is a country of 1.3 billions. In another 25 years we shall touch 1.7 billion, population of China and U.S.A. put together.
New Inventions made in the medical arena, such as new pharmaceuticals, diagnostic equipment, surgical procedures, post-operative care, ICU methods, everything involves millions of dollars and euros. Who has to pay for all these? Even Developed Countries are finding it difficult to bear the costs of state-of-the-art medical treatments. For this reason only, bourgeoisie Governments will always try to cut Health Care Schemes, Budget Provisions for Health Care Schemes, when there are no elections around, and promise to raise such allocations when there are elections around.

ADOPTING THE LATEST MEDICAL PROCEDURES, USING LATEST MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AND INNOVASIONS, IN UNDER-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

This is not possible for a country with 1.3 billion population. Nor is it correct to say that politicians can go abroad for the latest treatment, and all other hoi polloi have to rot in native hospitals.

IN TRUE TOTAL SOCIALISM, PARADIGM UPWARD SHIFTS IN MEDICAL TREATMENT CAN BE ALLOWED, ONLY WHEN THE NATION IS IN A POSITION TO PAY FOR ITS ENTIRE 1.3 BILLION POPULATION

The Bourgeoisie Capitalist method of moneyed person going abroad for medical treatment, and the poor man languishing in home cannot be allowed. Either the entire Nation should get the Latest Medical Treatment, or the entire Nation should fore-go it.

To come back and continue adding / deleting / modifying. सशेष. ఇంకా ఉంది.

895 (First of 10 series) FREE things which are illusory and imaginary in Capitalism can become REAL only with GREAT EFFORTS AND FORESIGHTED PLANNING

We come across Presidents, Prime Ministers, Provincial Governors, Governors of States in India, Chief Ministers of States in India, Collectors (District Administrators) of approx. 800 Districts in India, who else not, giving banquets, lunches, dinners to hundreds and thousands of guests, at Public Expense inviting VIPs (Very Important Persons) as guests. In such feasts and parties, there may be several courses, can be even a 1000 in number, and nobody cares about their expenses, both in affluent countries, and poverty-stricken countries. In India, we may not be able to get information on such lavish expenditures from the concerned Government Offices, even under Right to Information Act.

In United States, there seems to be some transparency in such matters. Here is a link to a beautiful report in Times of India dated Barack Obama's dinner for PM Manmohan Singh most expensive since 2009: Report PTI 13th Feb. 2014 Click here to go to http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Barack-Obamas-dinner-for-PM-Manmohan-Singh-most-expensive-since-2009-Report/articleshow/30298497.cms. This was before the 2014 Parliament Elections in India, i.e. when Mr. Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister, and Mr. Narendra Modi was still awaiting in queue for PM gaddi (seat).

In response to a Freedom of Information request to which it took the state department 13 months to respond, CBS News has obtained the Office of Protocol's expense calculations for the first five state dinners of the Obama presidency.

The Obama administration spent $572,187.36 for the State Dinner for PM Manmohan Singh at the White House on November 24, 2009.

Obama hosted Mexican President Felipe Calderon on May 19, 2010 at a cost of $563,479.92.

He held his third State Dinner on January 19, 2011 for Chinese President Hu Jintao at a cost of $412,329.73.

Obama held the fourth State Dinner on June 7, 2011 for German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the cost was $215,883.36.

The fifth State Dinner was held on October 13, 2011 for South Korean President Lee Myung-bak at a cost of $203,053.34, the CBS report said.

ybrao-a-donkey's personal views which are not intended to be imposed on others

How much Mr. Manmohan Singh might have, in reciprocation, spent on dinners to various visiting international functionaries, during his tenure as PM, between 2004 and 2014? Nobody knows. Amounts can also vary on method of computation, question of-- whether any particular item of expenditure is to be included/counted under varios heads.

Many people hailed Mr. Barack Obama as a sort of messiah, when he got elected twice, as a 'Black' President, who has taken an incarnation to resurrect the suffering masses, particularly the blacks. Mr. Obama as a President of United States, led with a charismatic personality. But his eight years rule, might not have brought any significant change in the lives of poor Americans. By and large, a status quo ante was maintained.

Now, Mr. Donald Trump has come as the New President. How much he is going to spend on State banquets, lunches, and dinners, tea parties? Considering the flamboyance of Mr. Trump, I cannot think of any tangible figure in advance. We have to wait and see.

To continue. सशेष. ఇంకా ఉంది.

875 (Part 1 of 10 series) Mr. Jeremy Corbyn is right in suggesting a wage cap, but it does not solve problems comprehensively

Last time we wrote about Mr. Jeremy Corbyn, the British Labor Leader, was in our blog post No. 795 Click to study post No. 795, wherein we have provided a link for the analyses made by Mr. Nick Cohen in Spectator.com. The article's title was "LEFT HAS A HISTORY OF FOOLISHNESS" in Spectator, dated 30th July 2016. Now, Mr. Jeremy Corbyn came up with a scintillating-sparkling idea, that a wage cap (a maximum earning limit) could be placed. Here is a link to a news report of Telegraph, UK which not only contains excerpts from the speech of Mr. Jeremy Corbyn, but also a link to his video speech, full text speech, comments-of-others on his speech. Some observers claimed that Mr. Corbyn's proposal as idiotic. Briefly, Mr. Corbyn's proposal says:

"...If we want to live in a more egalitarian society and fund our public services, we cannot go on creating worse levels of inequality. ..."

"...I would to like to see a maximum earnings limit, quite honestly, because I think that would be a fairer thing to do. ..."

"...We cannot set ourselves up as being a sort of grossly unequal, bargain-basement economy on the shores of Europe. ..."

"...It would be "somewhat higher" than the £138,000 I earn as an MP and Leader of the Opposition. ..." (Sky-news)

ybrao-a-donkey's personal observations, which are not intended to be imposed on others:

SELF-PRESERVATION- A BOURGEOISIE TRAIT

Mr. Corbyn, has made sure for himself that he will not lose, when a "maximum earning limit" is placed. This self-preservative precautionary condition is a bourgeoisie or petty bourgeoisie trait.

The proposal is good, but it will not work because, in a Capitalist System, Economies are managed by bourgeoisie. Petty bourgeoisie become only stooges and servants. Wages at top are not only arbitrarily determined, but also fixed by the promoters of businesses themselves, though sometimes in some countries, there may be stipulations such as Government's approval will be required for fat salaries of top executives.

HIGH WAGES OF BUSINESS EXECUTIVES

There is an erroneous belief among both bureaucrats and politicians world wide, that highly-paid executives can make a turn-round of loss-making businesses. The harsh reality is: A single executive, or a group of few executives, cannot turn around a business organisation, which shows a setting trend, owing to numerous reasons. Turning around, Profit-earning capacities, marketing-successes, production-successes depend on numerous factors.

HIGH EARNINGS OF SUPER-HUMAN PROFESSIONALS AMONG DOCTORS, LAWYERS, TECHNOCRATS

While some reasonable variations between "creative-dynamic-efficient-effective-result-oriented" professionals and "static-run-of-the-mill" professionals are possible and may, probably be justified, we can see abnormally huge variations among the earnings of professionals at top, at middle, and at the bottom of the earnings triangle. To appreciate this idea, some real-life examples may be given.

Thousand pages more can be written on this subject. To continue. सशेष. ఇంకా ఉంది.

865 (Part 4 of 10 series) Review of Bolshevik Revolution 1917 . Musings on Individualism and True Total Socialism

I do not AT PRESENT believe much in tokenisms of conveying best wishes on New Years etc., though I might have in the past, occasionally engaged myself in such conveyances. Hence, To my readers: Be yourself 2017 ! We shall continue our musings on Individualism vs True Total Socialism. In the previous blogpost No. 864, we have made some comparative observations on the Railway System of now defunct U.S.S.R, and our 2016 INdian Railways and the portents for 2017. Thoughts are like house-flies during rainy season. Like the flies, unbridled (uncontrolled, unrestrained) thoughts can also make our lives miserable. As an atheist, I do not believe in yoga, in its present marketing sense. True yoga (yoga = Indo European Word. Akin to 'yoke' = pairing, just as two oxen are paired to a plough), Yoga in religious sense might have referred to a Yoking between "Soul of a Creature (human soul which Indian culture believes, to reside in human bodies, called 'jIva Atma')" and the "Supreme God called 'parama Atma' ", in Bhagavad Gita, an important scripture of Hinduism, though not the SOLE SCRIPTURE.

According to present scientific understanding, I believe that 'soul' does not exist. Mind, I believe is only an extended faculty of body. Mind is not separate from physical body of any individual. When a body is buried, or cremated, everything pertaining to the body goes. A wing of INdian Philosophy 'sAnkhya path' or sAnkhya yOga, which is based on numbers (sankhya = number), recognises 'mano buddhi ahankAra cittams' (mano=mind, buddhi=intellect, ahankAra=ego, cittam=mental disposition, will) as concepts. We can view yOga as a yoking of body and manobuddhyahankAra cittams. This concept has nothing to do with God, jIvAtma (souls of creatures) and paramAtma (Supreme Soul).

Indian Philosophical tenets, inter alia other things, revolve around conquering senses and the minds (mano buddhyahankAra cittams).

All the three principal philosophical tenets Advaita (Monism), Dvaita (Dualism), ViSishThA advaita (special Monism), recognise the need for harmony between the soul within the body, and outside the body. Understanding this harmony between whatever exists within our bodies, and outside our bodies in the environment, can add an additional strength to the concept of Socialism, which involves SHARING. Individualism prevalent, and vociferously supported in today's Capitalist world, does not give much value to SHARING, except some intangible and intractable sharing of FaceBook, Twitter etc. Social Media images and messages. On the other hand the SHARING visualised by Writers like Karl Marx, leaders like Lenin, Versatile Geniuses like George Bernard Shaw, strengthen the idea of sharing of tangible objects in Socialism.

More, will be added to this blog post, today and tomorrow.