Health Care is on its way through the legislative branch of government as we speak. Is Universal health care really a good thing? I wrote a paper on whether or not we should support the new health care bill. It is as follows...
The United States health care system is among the best in the world for those insured. If you have insurance through your place of work or through your parents then chances are that you are taken care of. Those Americans without health insurance are not so lucky. A health care reform bill is currently making its way through the government. The democrat backed bill calls for insurance for all Americans, while all republicans in office oppose the bill. While the health care bill may aid millions of Americans it will not be beneficial to the country. In reality, government run health care would cut down on our freedoms by increasing the size of government in our life, increase the price of health care, and increase the waiting time for health care.
A model for America’s new health care is the system that is in place in Canada right now. Overall the system up north is effective, but would be a downgrade from our current system. Canadians are not pleased with the waiting times to see doctors and specialists. Only twenty six percent of Canadians approve of the waiting time to see a specialist, while the rate in the United States is nearly doubled at forty seven percent (Thomma). With higher population density in the United States, the waiting time to see not only specialists but any physician would surely be longer. Although Canadians are infuriated with their wait times, sixty-five percent are pleased with the amount of access that they receive and the affordability of their access, while only forty-nine percent of Americans are pleased with the affordability of their access (Thomma). Although Canadians are more pleased, Americans are better able to get the coverage that they want or need. In Canada there is a lottery based system to determine who gets certain care. In America if you have the money then you can pay for whatever operation or medication that you need. Whenever the government steps into our personal lives it usually causes problems. Regarding the program proposed in the United States, Judd Gregg, republican senator of New Hampshire, said that the American program, “is a slippery slope to a single payer system like Canada or England have, which inevitably leads to putting a bureaucrat between you and your doctor and inevitably leads to delays, it leads to rationing.”(Thomma) With a higher population in the United States than both Canada and England there is a higher chance that rationing would occur. Rationing medicine and placing a bureaucrat between you and your health not only puts your life potentially in danger but it also cuts down on your freedoms.
Allowing the government to run your health insurance allows them to have an even larger impact on your life. Large governments are the enemies of democracy. Since Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office during the great depression, our government has expanded. Programs such as welfare, Medicare, and social security all have an impact on our lives, whether we benefit from these programs or pay taxes so others can benefit from them. These programs are run by the government, which will also run our universal health care system. What is so troubling about the government controlling these programs is that it shows that we are moving towards socialism. General Motors was bought out by the government earlier this year, another institution now owned by the government. Another government in history was run the way that our government is turning towards. In the early 1930s Germany was being run by the National Socialist German Workers Party. This party supported the people. They controlled the automakers, provided welfare for the poor, and had universal health care. They promised change for impoverished Germany. This party was better known as the Nazi party and was led by Adolf Hitler. What is separating the United States to a government system comparable to Nazi Germany is universal health care, and a dictator. As the size of the government increases the citizens freedom decreases. If universal health care goes through Americans are no longer left with the freedom to choose our own personal health care. President Obama promises Americans that they are able to keep their current health care. This is not true. To begin with, it is not the governments’ job to allow Americans to choose their health care, it is already a freedom. In the new bill you will not be able to keep your health insurance permanently. Most Americans collect health insurance through small business. Under the bill you are able to keep your existing insurance as long as you have it before the bill is passed. This sounds fair, but the government has something up its sleeve. If your existing plan changes after the bill takes effect then you must change to the government option, so much for the free market (Tully). Obama has continually promised Americans that they can keep their coverage, but by the way the bill is put it sounds differently. What kind of leader would lie to his people? I can think of one.
Those in support of the health care bill cite the 46 million Americans without health insurance as means enough to pass legislation. 46 million people is a lot of people, nearly one in every six Americans is without health insurance according to this statistic. What is so great about this statistic is that it is misleading. Sure 46 million Americans are without health care, but up to nine million of those are illegal immigrants. Another 18 million make enough money in a year that they would be able to afford health insurance but refuse to get it. Also, the statistic of 46 million includes citizens that were without health insurance for only one month out of the year due to changing jobs or other factors. Through deduction, we can say that around 20 million are left uninsured. Fourteen million Americans also qualify for government programs already in place but do not take advantage of the programs. Some of these categories may overlap but the figure is likely to be around eight million, not forty-six million (Klein). Under the new bill you will be forced to pay the same price for care regardless of your condition. Whether you are a 24 year old marathon runner or a 29 year old alcoholic chain smoker, your premium will be the same. You will not be rewarded for healthy lifestyle choices that some health insurance companies currently offer. Younger and healthier Americans are going to be paying the same price as older unhealthy Americans. It is not fair to the struggling college student who has to pay more for care so the older retiree collecting social security can receive a discount. The cost to take care of a younger healthier person is a lot less than the cost to maintain an older American.
After all is said and done it would be best for the United States to keep the current health care system. Freedom needs to be retained. We should not sacrifice the freedom that we have for health care security. In the words of the great Benjamin Franklin, “Any society that would give up a little liberty for a little security will deserve neither and lose both.” How Franklin’s quote can be applied today is that once we allow the government to increase its role in our day to day lives we lose our liberty or freedom. We no longer deserve it because we now rely on the government. We rely now on our government and the security that they provide. The health care that they will provide us is not as good as what we have now, so in theory we will also lose our security. Also it is to be noted that government run programs have not always been the most efficient. Imagine waiting in line at the DMV. Every time you go to the DMV there is a line. Do you want to wait in that line to see a doctor? What it comes down to is if we should sacrifice our freedom so roughly eight million Americans can get health care. We need to ask ourselves, “What would Benjamin Franklin do?” That has already been answered, now we need to follow through on it.
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