To start I don't think our current healthcare system is perfect but I sure don't want it in government hands. Tort Reform is the first thing the government needs to tackle. That would allow malpractice insurance rates to finally fall rather then sky rocketing out of control. Will it happen? Heck no because most of our Senators and Representatives are attorneys. Why would they want to do anything that could cut back on other attorneys cost?
Second, businesses should be allowed to do a co-op with health insurance. It would allow small business to pool their cost together and make it more affordable for employers. If this happened how many more people could then be insured? How does the government figure that 40 million people are without insurance anyways? Did they ever take into account that some people don't want to be insured or could be self insured? From time to time people don't need government assistance.
The last point is just what my classmate said. Why should I pay for your healthcare? Why should you pay for mine? We shouldn't, our country is taxed enough as it is. Property tax, sales tax, income tax, any other stupid tax that goes to dumb things. We seem to be taxed more now then during the Revolution! Which is what started the whole thing. If we have socialized healthcare you and I will have to pay for the 27% obese Kansans and 28% obese Missourians. I don't want to do that. So the government solution will have to be to get those people thinner in order to keep cost down. So they will have to mandate their diets. I'm not in favor of people turning into Jared before the Subway commercials, but people should have the freedom to eat what they want.
I could go on and on about waiting list for care, how Candaians come to the US for healthcare but people just need to think this through. Whatever, I just thought we lived in a free country with free markets, apparently I'm wrong and we live in the United Soviet States of America. Comrade.
Just to set the record straight, I am not coming to the US for healthcare (fyi).
ReplyDeleteI really think it is a shame you have so few opinions. Mostly, I agree with you. But when my insurance is as much as my house payments, that just doesn't seem right.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that tax dollars and current healthcare costs already factor in paying for everyone. Uninsured people constantly visiting emergency rooms have to be covered somehow, and those costs are passed on to us via increased premiums and more expensive coverage.
ReplyDeleteIt would be far better to make sure these people are covered and have access to preventive care, which is far cheaper than emergency care.
However, this is all just a fantasy because any system that covers everyone would have to come hand-in-hand with a cost reduction in the current system, and that will NEVER happen. Ideally, our taxes might go up, but healthcare costs overall would come down to offset the increased cost. This would provide better coverage for everyone, and keep the costs at least the same. It'll never happen, though. What's going to happen is our healthcare costs and premiums will continue to rise and taxes will increase to fund a new socialized healthcare system. Not a pretty picture.