Opponents of health care reform...

...have seized upon two new studies this week that call for delaying the start and reducing the frequency of screening for breast and cervical cancer. Kevin Sack writes in the New York Times that:

...the recommendations have provided fresh ammunition for those who warn that greater government involvement in medical decision-making would lead to rationing of health care.

In T. R. Reid's new book, The Healing of America, however, he writes that countries with universal health care, i. e., the rest of the developed world, place a greater emphasis on preventive care. Why? Because it's cheaper to treat an illness sooner rather than later. In Britain, for example, which is the closest thing to "socialized medicine" in the developed world (although the general practitioners are private), there is a huge emphasis on preventive medicine. Reid says that the public is constantly being encouraged (badgered even) to get vaccines and screenings. As a result, illnesses are detected sooner and treated sooner and costs are kept down.

The entire approach in Britain is different from the U. S. There the emphasis is to keep people healthy in the first place, rather than just treat people once they're sick. It may not be as profitable, but it makes for a healthier populace.