# Dispelling US Health Care Myths:  Part 1

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dispelling-us-health-care-myths-part-1/525997>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [January 22, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dispelling-us-health-care-myths-part-1/525997 "2010-01-22T16:09:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 245

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**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dispelling-us-health-care-myths-part-1/525997/245 "2010-01-26T20:35:53Z")

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> [@Ruminator](#):
>
> If this is truly the case, then there is NO NEED AT ALL TO PROVIDE ESTIMATES OF COSTS TO THE VOTING TAXPAYER to win their support.
> 
> If the almighty “goal” is the most important thing, there is no need to discuss numbers. Because, it doesn’t matter if it’s 10 times or 1000 times the estimate – the ULTIMATE comeback will always be, “_it’s irrelevant we miscalculated the costs by a factor of 1000 because it serves a goal._”
> 
> Funny thing is… we voters might not all agree on pursuing those “goals” if we knew the true costs.

I already said that being more efficient, while still meeting the goal, was better. The case in point here is that having a deficit says nothing at all about whether the program is efficient. Efficiency, to repeat, is a measure of how close you come to the ideal of providing value for minimal cost. Please demonstrate that private insurers come closer to this ideal than Medicare.

If you go out shopping to buy 20 items, you can measure the efficiency of your shopping by how close you get to the minimal price for your grocery cart. Not buying the milk to save money is not being efficient.

The real problem with justification is not the cost, but acceptance of the goal. If you don’t accept that it is proper for society to tax its citizens to provide life sustaining healthcare for every person, then the cost is just a sideshow. I’ve asked several times in this thread if those who believe this think it is acceptable for people to die because they couldn’t afford proper treatment. So far, only the sounds of crickets.

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