John: With due respect, generalizing from Brazil is a mug's move. Why not look at what happens in Scandanavia or, where I live, in Japan. Yes, it may take an hour or two to see a doctor if you haven't made an appointment in advance; but the same was true in the USA when my parents went for treatment at their HMOs.
Gee, even with due respect, that was (uncharacteristically) condescending to Brazilians, especially given that HMOs were first developed in Brazil and that Americans learned how to develop their own HMOs by visiting Brazil and studying their system in the 1980s.
As for the results of the "Japanese system" being "the longest average life spans in the world," I assume you have managed to eliminate the influence of contributing factors such as genetics and diet.
Not to discount everything you've written. Just to pick at the odd parts. Eric ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
