Governing by ideology: Swedes to be prevented from seeking healthcare abroad

Just as the Swedish people were beginning to discover the advantages of foreign health care services, the government decided to throw a spanner in the works. People will be prevented from going that route, be forced to wait in endless hospital queues, be forced to endure inferior helath care and incorrect diagnoses. Not a day goes by without us hearing about frighteningly inexperienced doctors who make astonishing "mistakes" or are quite simply negligent in the execution of their jobs. Just look at the recent case (Schizofreni was in fact brain tumor), in which the doctor refused to do a brain scan as he was convinced that the patient was schizophrenic and did not have a brain tumour, which in fact was the case. This persisted for several years. And look at the treatment - electric shocks, among other things, and the continuous refusal to do a simple brain scan. In any other country he would never have been allowed to work as a doctor again. He would have been charged with quackery and forced to pay colossal damages.

But the government has now decided to close the door that had stood half-open during the past two years, just when it appeared that many ordinary people were about to take the chance to get better, cheaper and above all, faster health care.

What possible justification can there be for such a move? Simple, by cranking up the propaganda machine and telling the public that it is largely "wealthy people" who tend to go abroad for treatment, as they are the ones who can afford to raise the money at short notice. But this cannot be true, since it has been possible to send the bill directly to the National Insurance Office for some time now. When this is pointed out then the explanation becomes that the cost of foreign health care is putting a strain on the system. But this argument does not hold much water either, since treatment received abroad tends to be much cheaper than that available in Sweden.

What is happening here? What does the state earn by forcing people to live in pain and misery (as if we did not already know)? Imagine how much more attractive social democracy would be if people were allowed to decide how to run their lives.