Bizblogger

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Friday, January 25, 2008

Michael Moore Forgot About Sweden!

There's a lot to admire about Sweden, both if you favor capitalism, and also if you prefer cradle to grave systems. Sweden has a little something for everyone, including some very solid pharmaceutical and med-tech companies.

What it doesn't have however, is a great healthcare system. The cradle to grave approach of universal healthcare just isn't working for a lot of Swedes these days. According to Niklas Magnusson of Bloomberg,

...waiting times for medical care in Sweden are the longest in Europe, according to the Health Consumer Powerhouse, which analyzes health-care systems in the region. ..Critics of Sweden's welfare model say there are no incentives for hospitals to improve efficiency.

Oscar Hjertqvist, director of the Health Consumer Powerhouse compares the situation as such:

In Sweden, you would get paid just to have a restaurant, but there would be no requirements that people should get any food.

Author Niklas Magnusson was good enough to send me an email on his article, stating, "Sicko didn't really seem to take the horrendous waiting lines into account!." He's right!