If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough. - Mario Andretti

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

It’s the latest socialized medicine success!

A fourth generation Kiwi has renounced her citizenship after a year-long battle with the Immigration Service over getting residency for her husband of 32 years.

Mari McGuire says she is ashamed to be a Kiwi.

McGuire’s husband, American folk singing star Barry McGuire, has been refused permanent residency because the service says his age - 70 - and heart condition would make him a burden on the health system. McGuire, who had a US No 1 hit in 1965 with the anti-war song Eve of Destruction, has a pacemaker.

The couple’s $1 million-plus home - built on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula north of Auckland 18 months ago - goes up for auction today. They will return to California.

The issue of health screening for immigrants was highlighted last week by a Sunday Star-Times article which revealed a deaf South African girl, allegedly killed by her father, had also been classified a possible burden on the state.

The Immigration Service is introducing tougher health screening for migrants aimed at weeding out those with TB and HIV, but also anyone who could be a burden on the state, including children with developmental delays and people with dementia.

But… but… where’s the compassion?  I mean, it’s almost like the NZ government is impersonally doing a cost/benefit analysis on human life, but that couldn’t possibly be true.  The only people who do that are mean old kkkapitalist American healthcare corporations.  Everyone knows that government-run healthcare is free and unlimited and everyone gets all they need under all circumstances, right?

Update: It’s worth noting, too, that when my father went into hospital for the last time, and he was told that he needed a heart transplant to live, he had little to no health insurance.  NOT ONE SINGLE TIME was there ever a suggestion, hint, or a whiff of the idea that he would not get his treatment due to his inability to pay for it.  Sure, he might have gone bankrupt in the end, but he would have gotten the treatment nonetheless.  (For those of you who don’t know the story of my father and his heart issues, see here.)