The Great Health Care Debate

I can't turn on the tube without hearing about some politician yammering about fixing the heath care crisis or some such headline grabbing cliché. They all talk from the assumption that people in this country can't get seen by a doctor unless they have someone else paying for it. The truth is anyone can get health care. If that were not the case the waiting rooms of the nation's hospitals would not be full of illegal immigrants. If one wants to go some place where you can't get health care just go to Canada or the UK.

In those countries you can be turned away simply because you are too old. They don't say that, they just say there is nothing they can do for you. The debate is not about people getting health care, it's about buying votes from people who think they will get something for nothing. With the government involved in getting everyone insured you will get nothing for a lot of somethings.

Think about this. Every program the government runs is running out of money every year. Have you ever heard an elected official say that such and such program has met its goals with money to spare? They are always carping about not having enough. They never come in at or near the projections of cost. If something that is working needs to be broken, get the government to run it. They are still paying farmers not to grow crops for heaven's sake.

Secondly, with private insurance even outside of any government mandate, one must consider that it is essential for the future of any company to make a profit to stay in business. Your premium is going to be more that what the average for your demographic pays for heath care. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. It is just one factor one must consider when one is deciding if insurance is necessary. That is right. If it is necessary. If one is under thirty, don't smoke, abuse drugs or alcohol or do stupid things like riding bulls than you will probably not need health insurance. One could deposit an amount similar to your premium into a savings account and come out way ahead.
If anything needs to be done it would be getting the lawyers and their leach clients out of the business of suing every time something doesn't come out perfect. Doctors make mistakes and should be accountable, but just because one did not get the outcome one was hoping for does not mean the doctor screwed up. The threat of law suits greatly increases the cost of delivering care. Lawyers get rich off chasing ambulances, just ask John Edwards. Since most politicians are lawyers there is small hope that they will stall the gravy train.

Even so if the government is in charge forget about any compensation for the neglect one will suffer. If Canada and the UK are any example that will be quite a lot. It owns the courts and makes the laws so bet on the politicians finally putting the breaks on that when it's their heads on the block despite the fact that health care professionals will become just more members of the bureaucracy. Think of that for a minuet. The DMV as a doctor's office.

This brings me back to the issue of illegal immigrants. The hospital waiting rooms are full of them. They get care and you and I pay for it. Clean up the illegal mess and watch the cost of running a hospital come down. If there is a crisis this is where it is and one need only point to the government as the source. Politics is a great scam. Create a problem, pat yourself on the back for discovering it then invent a program to fix it. When the program makes matters worse just ask for more money. What's not to like? If we are lucky this wont be the future of health care.






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socialized medicine, politics, Democrats, immigration