To appease Mrs. J, I am posting a few thoughts about national health care and such. But just this one time. I promise not to make a habit of it. Any by the way, feel free to disagree with me. Many intelligent and caring people fall on both sides of this issue. But no name calling, please.
This is simply to say that I think a national health care system is a horrible idea. I am not saying that we have a great system, but putting the government in charge is not the answer. Anything that the government tries to do, can be done much better most of the time by someone else. Anytime the government has tried to help make something affordable it makes it worse (anyone heard of gas lines in the 70's? Anyone noticed that college tuition went through the roof when student loans were so easy to get? The money pit that is the public school system? Tariffs on sugar so that our food will have corn syrup from that American farmer and we are now all fat?)
Just some thoughts:
1) One of my nursing instructors explained that when she had researched British health care, the government did not pay for kidney dialysis after the age of 50. So you turn 50, you have a big party and 2 weeks later you are dead. The government decides how valuable your life is. I have been to dialysis centers in the U. S., 90% of the people I saw are on dialysis because they are drug users, did not control their blood pressure, or did not control their diabetes. But someone (the federal government) pays for their dialysis. I don't see how having nationalized health care would make it better.
2)Our local paper ran an article the other day talking about the huge number of Canadian babies being born in the U.S. because the Canadian hospitals are full. So Canada ships laboring mothers to the U.S. If Canada could not use the American system as a back up, they would be in trouble.
3) Studies have been done that show that people who have good health insurance in the U.S. overuse the system.
4)People in the British heath care system are often on waiting lists for months to have surgery or see a doctor. When was the last time that you heard of someone in the U.S. being placed on a waiting list for care? (It happens, but it is rare and often involves the government paying for the care.) Or check out this Canadian lady's experience.
5) Click here, here and here for some interesting articles.
About Me
- Misplaced Texan
- I am a flailing woman swimming in a sea of grace, committed to leading a thoughtful life of faith. I encourage other grace swimmers to thoughtfully consider their lives so that we can more fully enjoy the grace and love of God. Sometimes this looks like a book review, sometimes it looks like a recipe to make you life easier. Most of the time, it looks like sitting around a table with your favorite hot drink and encouraging each other. I was born and raised throughout Texas, but have been wandering since marrying my husband. We currently live near Charlotte, North Carolina. One of my favorite things to do is grab a coffee, or a tea, or a hot chocolate, and get to know people. This is a place to share life and the table. I have 3 children, my table is messy, but please come anyway.
2 comments:
I agree.
I think the biggest problem with our healthcare system is that there is no choice for the consumer, really. In our current system, most people get insurance through their employer. They typically pay a percentage of the premium (or all if they have a really crappy employer). However, they must use the provider the company has chosen to go with. The provider that costs the COMPANY less money, even though the employee is paying for most of the premium. The other side of this system is the people who are not provided healthcare through their employer, and therefore usually do not have it because they can not afford the astronomical premiums of private health insurance.
What I would like to see is for people to have the ability to purchase their own healthcare. I think, instead of creating a government run healthcare system, the government should give tax credits for insurance premiums. If they did this, then people could purchase whatever healthcare option they see fit (like more preventative coverage and less treatment coverage if that's your thing), and would receive a tax credit for whatever money they pay towards monthly premiums. This would help make it more affordable for everyone (who has a job of any kind) to have at least basic health insurance. It would also build a level of accountability into the system, because if it's your money paying for it, and your usage that is going to up the premiums that you pay, it might make people think twice before going to the doctor for that little sniffle they have.
Or maybe I give people too much credit. Dang! I think I may really be a libertarian.
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