For many years now there has been a debate about healthcare. Longer than you think, actually. There are many aspects to this subject. Healthcare is important to the individual because, face it, your health is contingent upon several factors including genetics, lifestyle and environmental. You can have great genetics but be hit by a bus and die young, or, you can have average genetics and have a great lifestyle and environment and live a long and healthy life. The factors involved, if you use mathematics, can be infinite. The fact of the matter is that everyone is an individual with a unique set of genetics , environment, lifestyle and the monetary means for the healthcare that they want.
Next, healthcare is a service that is rendered by highly trained individuals dedicated to the healthcare of others. Doctors spend many years in school and residency. Nurses spend years in training and continue to train every year. Radiologist, medical technicians, etc all provide a service just like auto mechanics, heating and air technicians, and plumbers, they all provide a service. The value of such service depends on the difficulty of said service. A janitor and a neurosurgeon are equal in value as a human, but the service that they provide is not. A person can be trained as a janitor in a very short period of time, however, a person that wants to be a doctor spends more than 8 years in school. How much will it cost to go to janitor school vs med school? Each man has value as a human being, it is the service that they provide which differentiates their status in society.
This is where the extreme left goes mental. They do not see the value of a persons service. They want to preach that all people should be equal. The term ‘From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.’ was popularized by Karl Marx, the father of Marxism. A definition of Marxism is ; The political and economic philosophy of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in which the concept of class struggle plays a central role in understanding society’s allegedly inevitable development from bourgeois oppression under capitalism to a socialist and ultimately classless society.
Capitalism allows the individual to create and keep the fruits of his labors. In America, capitalism has spawned the invention of millions of things that make life easier and more productive. The cell phone, computer, millions of inventions that would not have come about without the freedom to make life better for one and for all. Mankind would still be traveling by foot or by horse, there would not be a middle class and the rich would be like lords and every one else would be like surfs of feudal England.
Now, let’s look at insurance. This is a concept where many people pay a monthly fee, and if and when you need healthcare, there is a large pool of money paid monthly so that when the few people that need medical help, that pool of money can pay towards that medical need. I am writing only on the concept and not the implementation. With free market solutions, companies like Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Kaiser or others could make policies that could fit individual needs of people allowing the individual the freedom to choose the policy that best fits their needs.
Now, let us talk about single payer, or government control healthcare. The government decides what policies are available, who will be covered and at what level, they determine the prices of services and, since it is government regulated, government mandated and government controlled, there is no freedom to choose. The large pool of money forcibly taken from the citizens in the form of taxes, go to the government. The money is filtered thru the government. This means that only pennies on the dollar are available for a said service. The government is a very hungry beast and will eat up as much money as it can get. The government can and would mandate the conditions for service, and when service is rendered. Imagine waiting 9 months for surgical procedures, or 6 months for a cavity to be filled, or 6 months to see a cardiologist for a consultation for a pacemaker. Think it cant happen? It already is, it is called Medicare. Many healthcare professionals are leaving the field and retiring because there is no money left for them and the incentive is to wait, hoping that the patient dies before getting the care that would extend their life. Have you paid attention to the Veterans Administration? There is a Veterans Hospital that is not yet finished being built with extensive cost overruns. Into the Billions with a B, not just Millions but Billions of taxpayer money wasted to build a hospital that may never open in time to save the lives of veterans. That is government control. When has government EVER managed money well? The government has not even had a budget in over 8 years.
This is a very complicated issue that will need real men with real solutions to give the citizen real options. The first thing, as I said before, is to repeal the AHA or Obamacare. THEN, design legislation that will allow free market to create solutions. Remember, it is the freedom to choose, or not to choose that makes people free, not government control.
I love my country. It is its government I worry about. That fat feeling in your wallet is not money, it is someone from the government reaching into your pocket and saying ‘Trust Me. It is for your benefit”.