When talking about health care reform, it becomes all too easy to speak in clichés. “It’s our moral obligation to cover everyone!” “The government wants to take over your life!” “Look at Canada, people are perfectly happy with their coverage!” “Look at Canada, everyone hates it there!”
It’s unfortunate that these hot-headed talking-point arguments are widespread at the highest levels of our government, where rational discourse is supposed to take place. While people spend years spreading misinformation
and irrationalities, the simple truth is that America’s health care system is broken.
It’s obvious that the biggest problem with health care is not having it because it’s unaffordable. Without insurance, a person bears the risk of facing any one of the many potentially life-altering health conditions without the ability to pay. Instead of going into the ridiculous nature of how astronomically high some of these costs can be, we should think about the options these uninsured people (46 million as of now) have. There aren’t many. People can either pay the debt themselves over many years, or they can go on government assistance to help pay the costs.
The problem with both of these options is that even in a privately-run health system where people are meant to fend for themselves, the American public ends up shouldering their costs. Think about it; a person with a humongous debt and who attempts to pay it off themselves faces the risks of loans, quitting school, working overtime or multiple jobs, bankruptcy, and financial destitution for most of their lives. If they miss a payment, get sick again, or some other financial problem comes up, their debt increases and eventually becomes a burden
on the state. The same goes for government assistance,
which all Americans pay into through taxation.
Let’s not forget about preventive care. Many of these burdens can be avoided if all citizens
could see a doctor for regular checkups. Think about all the diseases, operations,
appointments, x-rays, and medications that could be avoided if people could afford going to their doctor. Breast cancer, enlarged prostates, melanoma, diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, the list goes on and on for things that can be helped if caught early and often. Not only would preventive care help save lives, it has the potential to cut costs on a widespread level as something that could have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars was found and treated in a few doctor’s appointments. But with our current system, millions of Americans never go to the doctor. They never even go to the dentist.
Beyond all of this lies a simple question.
What would be wrong with a little government competition? The capitalist system has been proven to do better when competition is present in the marketplace. Health care premiums are at an all time high and many private companies preclude those with prior conditions. If a government
option were introduced, it’s feasible that costs would lower and acceptance rates would raise, as private companies would be forced to compete with a system that provides cheap, quality coverage for everyone. Perhaps we wouldn’t have any more of these incredibly cruel situations such as brain-damaged patients without health care being dumped outside homeless shelters, or pregnant mothers without coverage
being denied necessary treatment, and when told to go to the local free clinic, die along the way.
I’ll leave you with this. The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world to not offer universal health coverage. We place lower than 25 on the World Health Organization’s country rankings of health care on a consistent basis. We have an obesity
level over 30 percent for both sexes. We have an infant mortality rate higher than 26 other nations. Since it’s obvious our health care system is broken, why are we so afraid of trying new ways to fix it?