Eric Cantor was on CNBC this morning...

...and the conversation inevitably turned to health care reform. Congress is supposed to begin the legislative process in June, so things should be heating up soon. Cantor replied with what will probably be two of the Republicans' talking points in the debate. The first is that the U. S. has the best health care system in the world and there's no reason to change anything. Heck, that's why people come here from abroad for treatment. The second point is that nothing should come between a patient and his doctor.

Now anyone who knows me knows I'm not a big fan of rankings; they're highly subjective. I've always been amused at how everyone's school district in America seems to be ranked first or second in their state. But having said that, I noticed that the World Health Organization, which is an American group, ranked the U. S. 37th out of 190 countries in "overall health system performance." The rankings were last compiled in 2000, and I really don't know what "overall health system performance" means. But if the U. S. has the best health care system in the world, as Cantor claims, wouldn't we be ranked higher than Costa Rica? Wouldn't we at least be in the top ten? We're just ahead of Slovenia, for God's sake! How many Americans could even find that on a map? Sounds like a place where they still use leaches. And as far as people coming to the U. S. for treatment, is that really true? Or is that just one of those urban myths? When was the last time you went to a hospital or a doctor's office and heard one of the patients speaking with a French or a German accent? I don't recall a receptionist ever looking at me and saying, "Oh, that's just another one of those Europeans who flew into town for treatment. You know how they're jamming the airports. I guess health care is really bad over there." Actually, I've read that people in other developed countries are generally very satisfied with their health care and aren't exactly clamoring for a return to a private system. In fact, many of them have private insurance to supplement their public plans. So much for the argument that a public plan would kill private insurance.

As for Cantor's second point, this is classic anti-health care reform baloney sausage, as my mother would say. Private insurers tell patients which doctors they can see, which procedures they will pay for, and how much the doctors get paid. This has been the case for decades; the doctor-patient relationship Cantor refers to hasn't existed since Leave it to Beaver went off the air. And that's if you can still qualify and afford private health insurance. Just make sure you don't lose your job or have any of those pesky pre-existing conditions.

It's hard to listen to the Eric Cantors of the world talk like this, especially with people like Joe Kernan nodding silently in agreement. But if this is the best the Republicans can do, then I think we may get real health care reform this term.