Will You Just Go Away Kent Conrad?

(Photo: 365 Project, Day Twenty, 09/24/09 - What I think of Kent.)

Kent Conrad drops a big Life-Zero up here. He tries to say universal health coverage isn't necessary for a quality health-care system in a large country, like Germany and Japan and France ...? France?

Let me just conclude for my progressive friends who believe that the only answer to getting costs under control and having universal coverage is by a government-run program. I urge my colleagues to read the book by T.R. Reid, “The Healing of America.” (via Think Progress)

I had the chance to read it this weekend. He looks at the health-care systems around the world. And what he found is in many countries they have universal coverage. They contain costs effectively. They have high-quality outcomes, in fact higher than ours. They’re not government-run systems in Germany, in Japan, in Switzerland, in France, in Belgium — all of them contain costs, have universal coverage, have very high quality care and yet are not government-run systems.

Yeah, how are those French doing without their universal coverage these days? Sen. Kent Conrad (D-Sellout) says they're thriving without one. You're wrong Kent. Well, you're right about the thriving part at least. France has 75% universal health care. The rest comes from those who can afford excelled private insurance. So anyone can get health care.

Think Progress:

The truth is, as the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein notes, France has had a public insurance system that covers all of its citizens since 1945. Known as Sécurité Sociale (social security), their public insurance program accounts for nearly 75 percent of total health expenditures in France, and people have the option of buying complementary private health insurance if they’d like. In its most recent ranking of health care systems, the World Health Organization concluded that France has the best health care system in the world.

(Emphasis Mine)


Nice Kent. We see who we're dealing with here. I guess we've known for a while, but you never cease to amaze.

6:39 p.m. Update: Steve Benen at Washington Monthly rounds up a few views of this one from Conrad. Some good responses here. The best is Kevin Drum of Mother Jones on Conrad's quote:

This has been sort of rattling around in my head ever since I saw it, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what I wanted to say about it. But then I figured it out: it's completely, 100% batshit crazy. I mean, is this actually breaking news to Conrad after (excuse me a moment while I google) 22 years in the Senate? WTF?

Believe me: Conrad's "progressive friends" would be punch drunk with ecstacy if the United States adopted the healthcare system of (take your pick) Japan, France or Germany. It would be beyond our wildest dreams. Does Conrad really not know this? Did he only find out this weekend that those other countries have terrific healthcare systems that contain costs, provide universal coverage, and boast very high-quality care? What's going on?

Google Kent Conrad ... ha ... that's pretty good.