Cliff Stearns: “earlier this month the Supreme Court overturned a law that prevented people from buying health insurance, that is…”

“earlier this month the Supreme Court overturned a law that prevented people from buying health insurance, that is, private health insurance, to pay for medical services available from and through Medicare, the publicly funded system. The ruling means that citizen residents can pay privately for medical service, even if the services are already covered under the state- provided health care system. Now, what does that mean? Perhaps you did not see this ruling, but that is because it was not the United States Supreme Court and Medicare and ``private contract'' we are talking about. It was the Canadian Supreme Court and Canada's socialized health care program under Medicare and Quebec's ban. Now, how did this come about? Well, a courageous Canadian doctor, Jacques Chaoulli, and his patient, 70-year-old Montreal businessman, George Zeliotis, waited for a hip surgery replacement, decided enough is enough, and challenged the constitionality of the Canadian ban on private payment. He argued that long waiting lines and times for surgery contradicted the country's constitutional guarantee of ``life, liberty and the security of the person.'' He argued that the wait was unreasonable, endangered his life, and infringed on his constitutional rights.…”