Socialized medicine in China

The Volokh Conspiracy » BBC Objectivity? The BBC intereviews a Chinese citizen on how much better medical care was when it was free.

Reporter: But didn’t medical care used to be free?

Chinese Citizen: It was free, but it was terrible. The “doctor” assigned to our village had only a sixth grade education, and was more likely to kill you than to heal you.

Reporter: But didn’t everyone have equal access to this doctor?

Chinese Citizen: Sure. We were all poor, and we were all free to die in this quack’s care.

I'm reminded of a joke. A man is asking the price of some item at the store. When told, he exclaims that the store down the street sells it for only half the price. When asked why he doesn't buy it from that store, he explains they're out. "Oh, well," says the clerk, "When it's out, it's half price here, too."