But then we run into the problem of "how the hell can we make this work?" Are we going to have to garnish the paychecks of those who make enough money to afford their own healthcare to make up for those who aren't as fortunate? Well that hardly seems fair. I understand we are all in this together as people, but where does it end? What should be the reason for accepting such a tax increase (especially with Obama's already higher tax on the wealthy)? Patriotism? That hardly seems fair either. However taxes are not my concern for the healthcare system. As you will read below there are other issues that are much more devistating to a universal healthcare system than higher taxes.
I can hear some of my fellow young Americans already beginning to feel uncomfortable. They are stirring and just waiting to say "well maybe if we didn't spend $10 Billion dollars a month on Iraq then it wouldn't be an issue". True. I agree Iraq is the wrong battlfield and we should focus our military efforts elsewhere. But to resort to that old trump card would be irresponsible, because the bottom line is that we are in Iraq and need to see it through. Hindsight is always 20/20 and we can't continue using this arguement for every fiscal problem we have, especially since most of these problems have been problems long before the Iraq war.
Here are the problems with Universal Heathcare:
- We will throw away laissez faire thus contradicting what our Founding Father's sought in small government (some of the most liberal thinkers ever by the way)
- Doctor's will be forced to take on way too many patients. This creates overcrowded waiting rooms, and much longer waiting lists for appointments and surguries. There are two ways to combat this; doctors will be allowed to practice without the same level of qualifications that they need today. The other is to allow nurses, RNs and fellows to perform pysicals, initial diagnosis, and even minor surguries and procedures.
- The government will get in between you and your doctor. They will regulate which medicines and tools the doctors are able to use (see denti-cal).
- Because government will intervene with the healthcare, healthcare will have to follow the economic state of the nation. During tough times, the government is going to have to cut the bottomline. This makes for cheaper materials and less effective medicines and treatment techniques.
All of these options drive down the quality of healthcare. Sure everybody has it, but no one will get the attention and perhaps treatments that they need. At least not as quickly and not as available.
I have some thoughts on how we can make healthcare either Universal or extremely affordable.
First, lets regulate the pharmacuetical companies and health insurance providers. These people (CEOs and other ranking officials) are the scum of the earth. They exploit people's need for their drugs and health plans and hammer people hard for them. There is a lot of corruption in these businesses and we could cut costs big time for making people accountable for their actions.
We could perhaps borrow from the law sector. People who can afford a lawyer should be allowed to hire that lawyer and receive the legal council that they desire. If you can't afford a lawyer, a public defender is provided for you. We could do this for healthcare as well. If you choose to have a certain doctor or healthplan then you should be allowed to have it. If not, then there should be a seperate entity with free healthcare for those who choose to use it. This could have tax implications, but perhaps those who don't have healthcare should be responsible for being taxed on such matters. Perhaps you can get a tax exemption if you can prove that you already have healthcare. I would accept that over a universal system that throws everyone under the same system. Also, what exactly is the role of Medicare and Medicaid? I thought these programs were designed to help those who can't afford heathcare? Personally I need to research that a little more.
The last thing I will say is that everyone in healthcare (along with many other businesses) got greedy. There is absolutely no morality anymore, and its sad. The answer however, is not a universal heathcare system. Thatwould end up doing more harm than good. Is reform needed, yes. Does anyone know how to change it? No. If there was a right way of doing things, we would be doing it already. But lets not make a bad situation worse.
1 comment:
I believe the answer lies somewhere in between. Government shouldn't be in complete control of our health care system, but should regulate, or police, matters of unfair business practices, and should insure that ALL Americans can at least obtain basic health care at a reasonable cost. Reducing the overall cost of health care could probably start with basic maintenance. If, lets say, there was a guideline for preventative maintenance that everybody had to follow, such as seeing your dentist every 6 months or having a physical once a year, then people would be forced into the good habit of taking care of themselves, making them less likely to get sick all the time or have worse problems. Following this guideline would make you eligible for good health care at a fair cost, making it a give and take situation. Follow the program, get your physicals, and health care will remain affordable and you will probably have better health stats at the doc's office.
Just a thought.
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