One of the more damaging outcomes of becoming dependent on the government to manage health care is the impact it has on an individual citizen's expectations about exactly what that health care should entail. It comes to be viewed as an entitlement covering an ever-expanding range of services. A perfect example of this is provided in a story in today's WSJ on how France is struggling to pay the high costs of universal care (sub req):
Yet even the smallest budget moves are proving controversial. Local residents are up in arms over a cost-cutting measure that makes patients pay 1.10 (Euro) an hour to park at the hospital. "It's a scandal," says retired local Communist politician Gérard Eude. "It goes against the very idea of universal health care."
So in the eyes of this Frenchman (admittedly a Commie), part of your "right" to health care also includes a right to free parking. And why not? After all, doesn't the government owe it to you?
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