When we look at the services that are provided by the state, we have to ask ourselves what are some of our basic human rights. i am not referring to Mazlow's hierarchy of needs, but those things that are provided by the state for its citizens and are by their nature, basic rights.
- Safety via the Fire department.
- Security via the Police and the Military
- Roads and bridges, so lets call that freedom of movement.
Why then isn't health care on that list?
i read where some catholic organizations are calling universal health a moral imperative. While i have very little time for organized religion... i agree completely.
How can we call ourselves a Just, moral and progressive society when many people are one medical condition away from bankruptcy. i have good coverage. have had for years. however every years i have to put 5000$ in a pre-tax account (flexible spending account) to cover the co-pays and non covered aspects and that is STILL not enough.
I have a friend at work. he is in his low 60's. a year ago he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in his colon, liver and lungs. 18 months to live was his prognosis. and he had to keep working... HE HAD TO KEEP WORKING WITH A %($)($#&% TERMINAL DIAGNOSIS!!! it was the only way to keep all the treatments covered. As it happens, he has had a great attitude and is now virtually cancer free. But in the last 12 months, he still had to come to work most days. you think it is bad coming to work with a cold... try it with chemo!
Yet we still hear about how nobody wants the government to take over their health care. I will state for the record that i am Canadian. that means that i spent most of my life with one of those EVIL government run health care systems. i did not even have a health card. you just walk in, and get treatment. my doctor... he was the one who delivered me and treated me through my entire life, and has delivered my brothers children. how about that for substandard care. i could go through a litany of examples of things that would bankrupt you in the US, but there is little point. somebody will always pull up some remote case of some guy they read about who had to wait for an operation! without knowing all the circumstances, these examples are nothing more than here say. (for the record, i have a cousin who had a terminal diagnosis and had to wait for a month before they could remove the football sized tumor from him. however it was due to taking that long to line up all the surgeons to perform the incredibly complex surgery. and it was determined that the wait would not further endanger his condition. when they got it out, it was determined to be benign and he is fine)
Take a look at studies as to who is most happy with their health care... Medicare, medicaid, VA, all government run. the government also runs the Air traffic control system, police, fire departments, highways, NASA and the DMV. OK, so maybe we all have horror stories about the DMV, but thing of all those agencies and how much we rely on them every single day. All government run.
now i am not saying that we should let the government run everything, just that we have to accept that they do a good job of running some stuff. And at the end of the day we have to understand one very important fact about private health insurers. no matter what they say, no matter how clever their commercials are, they are in one business and one business only. the business of DENYING claims. if they allowed all claims, then they go out of business. they are making a bet, just like your car insurance company is... that you will require them to spend LESS than you put in at the end of the year. and as such, they have to craft penalties and barriers to coverage that restrict coverage.
i have suffered through trying to get an insurance company to approve something. i cannot imagine a government (NOT FOR PROFIT!!!!) organization being worse. Having come from a government run system, i can tell you that their business is patient care. no 30% profits, far less in the way of administrators, much larger buying power, etc.
If doctors do not have to have to employ legions of people in order to try to get paid from the insurance companies, their costs go down. if they do not have varying different payment schedules depending on who your insurance is, their costs go down. if the one central system is also responsible for malpractice claims, doctors no longer have to pay in excess of $250,000 a year (per doctor) for malpractice insurance. oh sure, there is still insurance, but far less since any crazy malpractice claim is first being dealt with by a large organization and not by individual ambulance chasing lawyers. so guess what, their costs go down.
If i want to start a small business right now... i am 42, i have a wife and two kids. one of whom has autism. so if i wanted insurance on my own, i need to plan on at least $1500 a month just to cover health care while i am trying to make a go of it. that sure cuts down the likelihood of me making that attempt.
Last year my daughter needed to get her adenoids out. they were blocking her throat and on the verge of causing some respiratory issues. OUR COST.... 1500$ this was a routine out patient thing for a 3 year old. Yet we had a 1500$ bill.
And lets talk about death panels. my grandmother is 88 and lives in Canada. it has just been determined that she has severe circulatory issues in her legs. as such, the odds are good she will lose one or both of her feet. i was telling my wife about this and commented that she may not get prosthetics. my wife is so conditioned by all the BS about 'government" health care systems and them denying coverage to the old and infirm... that she assumed the reason was her age. i had to explain that no, sometimes the body cannot handle a prosthetic, sometimes the therapy needed for an older person to learn to use them may be too much, etc. this is the reality of a "death panel".
Insurance companies EVERY DAY make determinations on care based on age, existing conditions, odds of survival, etc. In the case of the government run systems, at least the cost of the treatment is much farther down the list of considerations. And in the end, the harsh reality is that a surgery that has a 40% chance of survival, and may only prolong life for 6 months is not a good idea for anybody. it may seem harsh, and nobody who is related to or friends with the person up for the surgery will agree (nor should they), but in the end, decisions are always made based on the best outcome.
In the end, you have to accept one brutal reality. The United States is the ONLY major industrialized nation in the world that does not have UNIVERSAL health care. and yet we have the highest cost, the lowest coverage and the worst care. Everybody else has it figured out... why don't we?
Are we really that beholden to the insurance companies?
