As an Italian whose wife is working in the public health care system my views might be a little biased.
Not that Italian system does not have its problems, but we have quite high life expectancy [1] and our system was ranked second in 2000 by the WHO [2] and apparently is still quite efficient [3].
And, by the way, it cures just anybody the same, from super rich people to illegal aliens.
I was not making any claims of the Italian medical system. I have no idea how they stack up. I was taking objection to the parent post claiming that the grandparent post was making a racist statement. If you guys are doing great in Italy, then awesome! :) Maybe you guys could share some notes with the United States, particularly when it comes to cost... we need serious help.
I totally agree with you. I'm not the best person to ask for advices, but this guy [1] knows tons about how to run hospitals on budget. The only problem is that he is perceived as very leftish in Europe, so I guess that in the U.S. his opinions will never ever be acceptable.
Just to play devil's advocate though, there are many factors that influence life expectancy outside of the medical system.
Italy seems to have a large confluence of positive factors: 1st world country, relatively healthy traditional diet with fresh fruits, vegetables, and seafood, mild Mediterranean climate, and a culture that emphasizes close familial and social ties.
Of course this is true. Indeed I was not surprised to see the high life expectancy, but more to see the efficiency of the system close to Japan and Israel ones.