Too many wishful thinkers have praised the Cuban health system in the wake of Fidel Castro’s death, but their perceptions are based almost entirely on Cuban doctors’ international volunteerism. Unfortunately, this is just evidence that Castro and his regime had some success in their (misleading and money-making) marketing campaign.
Cuba intentionally hosts foreigners in ritzy international clinics and sends thousands of doctors overseas to boost the image of Cuban healthcare (and make money). United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon once said Cuban doctors are always the first to arrive in a crisis and the last to leave.
Could it be because they don’t want to go home?
In Cuba, there are really two healthcare systems: One for visiting foreigners (who pay cash) and one for ordinary Cubans (it’s free!). The quality healthcare enjoyed by Castro and his fellow Cuban elites is similar to the former.
Some say the model for ordinary Cubans is efficient. Cuba spends only 11 percent of its GDP on healthcare, while the United States spends 17 percent. Perhaps the Cuban system saves money by requiring patients to bring their own bed sheets and light bulbs. Turns out it’s also a budget saver if you don’t update your facilities or practice basic hygiene. Sometimes you get what you pay for.
But wait — don’t Cubans enjoy similar life expectancy as Americans? And isn’t it true that Cubans actually have lower infant mortality rates? Yes, these things are true, but these are terrible metrics to gauge the quality of healthcare provided.
For example, the United States truly has the best infant mortality rate in the world, and it would show up in the statistics if countries used our methods for measuring infant mortality — but they don’t. Furthermore, in Cuba, women with high-risk pregnancies are often encouraged, or even forced, to get abortions. Cuba has one of the world’s highest abortion rates. How efficient.
Cuba’s healthcare system is like George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.” All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. The result is a two-tiered system where the haves (foreign guests and Cuban insiders like Castro and his cronies) experience fine care and the have-nots (everyone else) have trouble finding aspirin.
The U.S. healthcare system, although much better and more free (even under Obamacare), bears this one sad resemblance to Cuba’s: We are sliding down a slippery slope to a two-tiered system. Those Americans with private health insurance are in the top tier, while those with government insurance programs, like Medicaid, are not.
Woe unto us if we do not learn lessons from Cuba’s fate. Public healthcare systems always render this result.
If Castro had sought healthcare treatment the way ordinary Cubans do, then Cuba would have been free of this dictator much sooner.
Hadley Heath Manning is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a senior policy analyst and director of health policy at the Independent Women’s Forum, and a Tony Blankley Fellow at the Steamboat Institute. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
