Health Care

Over the weekend, I was keeping an eye on the Health Care vote in Congress.  At the same time, I was catching up on some reading. 

I came across this article in Business Week on Hugo Chavez's efforts to bring low cost food to the nation of Venezuela.

Chavez viewed Venezuela's food as too expensive (sound like US Health Care?).  So he embarked on a radical campaign to bring low cost food to the masses.

1. He nationalized a supermarket chain.
2. Chavez set up a network of cheap grocery stores to sell groceries with no markeup.
    3. Chavez even took over some food producers who he deemed to be "too profit oriented".
 
Everything worked fine for awhile.....a very short while.
a. Sugar Cane production fell by 8%
b. Fruit declined by 25%
c. and beef production fell by more than 38%

He financed much of his program with oil revenues.  But soon he was spending  a ton of money to import food items that could no longer be supplied by his own nation.  

The Government owned stores (operating without profit) suddenly found they had no profits to reinvest in the updating of freezers and refrigerator systems.  Without profits there aren't resources for even maintaining the equipment they have.

Now, because of slow government payments, suppliers are refusing to supply the government store (Does this remind you of doctors that are refusing to take medicaid patients?)  Chavez's answer?  He's threatening to take over any company that refuses to supply the government stores.  

It's quickly turning into the Cuban model and we all know how well that experiment ended.

Please read the article.  As  you read it, replace the words: "food and supermarket" with "medical care and hospitals". 

If the new health care plan is "a new chapter" for America, the Business Week article gives away the ending.  And, it's and ending that's all too scary.

 

What did you think of this article?




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