Why is it that so many people use the argument that America is the only industrialized nation that does not have universal health care? Since when did America, or Americans, start caring what the rest of the world is doing? Our Founding Fathers did not want their new nation to follow the mold of all the old countries in Europe. It is not by chance that America remains a beacon of freedom in the world. It is not by following others that America became the wealthiest nation in the world.
The fact is that Americans have never wanted socialized medicine, nor do they want it now. This is displayed throughout our history. To name a few failed attempts: Teddy Roosevelt in 1912, Harry Truman in 1947 and 1949, and Bill Clinton in 1993.
This same opinion is displayed today in the stunning victories of the Republicans in New Jersey and Massachusetts. President Barack Obama often speaks of the reform America demanded of him and that is exactly what we wanted, not a government takeover.
There is talk of making health insurance cheaper for everyone, but no talk of how that is going to happen. It is as if by magic that costs will suddenly drop when the government gets its hands into the matter. What is often left out of the debate is that the U.S. government is already the nation’s largest insurer, and billions are lost to waste and fraud in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. I challenge you to find any example of when a government program has reduced the cost of anything.
To those that say the current bill is not a government takeover, listen to what the politicians themselves have said. There is a number of them that wants to eventually get to the so-called single payer system (Obama included). This bill is seen by that group as a foot in the door toward their goal.
There are two easy solutions that should be tried before such drastic measures as a comprehensive bill. These are putting insurance on the free market, and capping what lawyers can make in medical malpractice suits. Washington is too busy playing politics to do what is really best for the country.
America shouldn’t jump off the bridge just because its friends have. We should continue to be the world leaders by following the principles that got us here.
Kyle Kelley
graduate student
mining engineering
A version of this article appeared in the Feb 9 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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"The fact is that Americans have never wanted socialized medicine, nor do they want it now."
I guess all of the senior citizens on medicare don't want it. Great! Also, while we are at it lets get rid of Tricare because people in the military don't want socialized medicine either. Give me a break.
Overall a rehash of the same lame GOP talking points without any practical solutions (tort reform will save what 2% of costs?, and how will allowing insurance companies to go to the lowest denominator help anyone?).
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Let me rephrase, who doesn't want "free" healthcare? Of course everyone wants something for nothing, but that is not the way the world works. Someone has to pay for it eventually.
And, personally, I don't feel like having a huge chunk of my paycheck go towards Medicare. The people that are on it now paid it in the past, but the government didn't save that money like they were supposed to, they went out and spent it.
I would venture to say that most vets would much rather have been treated in the public healthcare system than by the VA.
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I definitely understand where you are coming from but something has to be done about healthcare in this country. So many Americans do not have healthcare in this country. It is easy for those who have healthcare coverage to say not to allow the government to do anything. This is one problem that needs government intervention.
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Kyle, we live in a GLOBALIZED economy. We have to care what the rest of the world is doing or else we risk staying the #1 superpower we have always been!
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freedom isnt for everybody and increasingly Americans don't want to live freely so they want others to take care of them. thats just the way it is
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Dear Anonymous,
To say that tort reform will reduce medical costs by "what 2%" shows that you have not put much thought into what that actually means my good fellow! Do you know the cost of staying in a hospital overnight without getting any tests done? I would venture to say you do not because you probably did not look at the bill that your insurance paid. Although there is some variance between hospitals, most in major metropolitan areas charge right around 5,000 dollars per night. Now, where does all that money go? Think about it, if a Doctor sees 50 patients a day (a conservative number) and his cut is 20%, that would be 50,000 dollars a day! How many doctors do you know clear 10 million a year? Probably none. Hospitals as well as doctors pay Billions of dollars a year into malpractice insurance. This of course gets passed on to you and I. Many times in malpractice suits, Hospitals settle out of court for just a few million dollars (even if the case is ridiculous). This in turn encourages physicians to test a kid with the flu for every disease, just in case it goes to court and that was the 1 kid out of 5 million who had african sleeping sickness. These tests each cost thousands of dollars a piece (mainly due to the fact that malpractice insurance for hospitals is quite high). When you multiply an extra 10 tests (that cost thousands each) by a few hundred million, you get quite a large number!
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The real irony is that most congressmen and senators are lawyers too! Are they going to cut down on the bread and butter of huge contributors and many of the individuals who got them into office? Probably not, but maybe some legislation can get through restricting out of court settlements (hopefully cracking down on frivolous lawsuits and encourage physicians to be less "test-happy").
And on one last note in this diatribe, I would like to bring up the issue of the public option. This is quite a silly and stupid proposition, especially in the current economic climate. I do understand the theory that this entity should lower costs by underbidding other insurance companies, and thus utilize the free market system to control costs. What many people do not know is that Medicare already does that, and it does not work. Medicare pays out less to hospitals and doctors for the same services rendered as someone with private insurance. Check it out for yourself. Oh and Medicare often pays whenever they want (even as late as a year after services are rendered). And in case you did not know, if you were to sue to government for a late payment, you can only do so if the government lets you.
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Dear Anonymous 2,
The public option was not a Medicare extension. The Medicare extension / buy in was shot down by Republicans after the public option. Under the House's bill with the public option, reimbursement rates would be on par with private industry while having lower premiums. They would be able to do this because government is more efficient at using money than private industry (despite what right-wingers tell you). Government run systems do not spend money on profits, advertising, or legal loopholes.
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Dear Anonymous 3,
The query still stands. Produce one single example of when the government has been more efficient than the private sector. You cannot find one. I can say it no better than James Wilson: "That which is owned by no one is wasted by every one. What belongs to one man in particular is the object of his economy and care"
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This way of thinking is what put Obama in a job that he was not qualified to do and that has not changed. His solution to everything is print more money!
It is not now nor has it ever been the government's job to take care of you! Everything day when you get up you have lost another right! Our government is tooooooo big and they continue to ram whatever they want down our throat.
I have been around for 65 years and I was taught by my parents to work for what I wanted. Today we have a generation that thinks they are ENTITLED to everything. Grow up....that is the way it really is!
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Dear Anonymous 3,
If Medicare routinely reimburses less than private insurance, what makes you think that a new public option would suddenly reimburse on par with insurance companies? If medicare was run well, Doctors and hospitals would be paid on time and in full, which never happens with medicare. Although insurance companies are mainly motivated by a bottom line and profits, this does not mean that we should completely deviate from our current system. This drive often serves as the catalyst for efficiency, unlike many government run programs. Do you know how hard it is to get fired from a government job? Pretty hard. And larger government social programs means that you have more bureaucrats, who have a protected government job and don't care about being competitive in the market. Government competition does not drive down price. For example look at the postal service and fed-ex.
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Anthem Blue Cross just announced that it's raising premiums charged to hundreds of thousands of customers by as much as 39%despite making a record profit last year. They also plan another increase, without warning, later in the year. Way to go.
You must be from West Virginia.
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Yeah, screw them hippies in Yurp! They don't know nothin'! We do what we want! We invade anybody we feel like, execute anybody we want, and spy on anybody we want! The whole rest of the world is stupid and just jealous 'cause they can't live in 'Merica! One day one of them libruls said to me, "The world is a global community now, and we've all changed a lot since the eighteenth century, so we'd only be wise to listen to what other countries have to say." I said, "Nuh uh!" He said, "Why?" I said, "'Merica! That's why!"
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That's typical of liberals to resort to Ad Hominem arguments rather than addressing legitimate concerns about the plan. Yet we're the close minded ones that label people and stereotype.
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why give the government control over healthcare when it can't manage its own money or its own bureaus.
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