Paying More and Getting the Shaft
The reform of health care in this country has become a causus belli (cause of war). Circling in news reports or on the internet are videos showing lunatics shouting at politicians during town hall meetings as if their visceral reaction is a template for how the rest of America is feeling about the reform. It isn’t. If any of these crazies would take the time to turn their TV off of Fox News and do a little research they would find changing health care coverage is in the best interest of most people in this country.
The first issue someone needs to understand is why would the free market be the best instrument to run health care? Is it good to have a company determine the future of your continuing health care needs? Is there an insurance company out there who really gives a damn about you, especially if you become a profit liability? In other words, should profitability be a component of health? Finally, what recourse does anyone have if an insurance company refuses to cover them?
Many who are opposed to reforming health care and the single payer system cite the fact the US has the best health care in the world. The reality is we don’t have the best care in the world, we have the best medical technology in the world. With much of this technology being developed in universities, this aspect of our health care system will not change if the system itself changes.
According to the World Health Organization the US ranks 37th in overall health, right behind the likes of Morocco, Chile and Costa Rica even though the United States ranks first in health expenditure per capita. As for life expectancy, the US ranks 24th. Why does the US spend upwards of 7% more on GDP for health care than those who have socialized medicine yet get less in return for our investment? The answer has a lot to do with the profit margin. Should we live in a nation where capitalism is the driving force behind the health of our citizens? If we trust the military to protect us (and it is a government institution) then what is wrong with the government protecting us through a single payer health care service that runs parallel to the private one; that acts as a competitor to the current private insurance oligopoly?
The people that are screaming at congressmen in these town hall meetings are not doing a service to anyone, especially the middle class. Shouting down those who represent them is no substitute for open dialogue. Take a lesson from Charlie Rose and not from Bill O’Reilly. There are many of us out there who are waiting for the United States to catch up to the other 26 countries (most of them socialist) whose level of health care is better than ours.
August 19th, 2009 at 1:52 am
The simple fact is that a for-profit health care system cannot possibly be concerned with our collective best interest. While the managing interests of large health care organizations may claim they are concerned with providing good health care (and some may even truly believe that), the balance sheets drive their actions in a very different direction. They are not rewarded for providing good care at a reasonable cost. The whole goal of the organization is to be more profitable. The whole goal is to maximize revenue and minimize expenditures. In insurance terms that means minimizing claims. But in real terms a claim is someone that is injured, or sick, or dying. So for the organization to be profitable, the primary goal must be to eliminate expenditures, eliminate claims, and eliminate care for the injured, sick, and dying. The very people they are supposed to be caring for end up costing the most. This is a fundamentally flawed business model, yet it is the business model of some of the largest and most powerful organizations in the world. It’s morally unthinkable, and it may be finest example of legal racketeering the world has ever seen. And why do they see this as being acceptable? It’s because they answer to Wall Street. Somehow that makes everything okay. What these organizations claim to be and what they actually do are diametrically opposed to each other. With a for-profit health care system there is no actual care, instead there is only rampant greed and complete disregard for those who actually need care.
August 20th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Great points Geo..welcome aboard.
February 17th, 2012 at 12:17 am
One day; Xiao Ming another class …. a sudden “rush”(fart) a cry;sitting next to a small U.S. scolded and said: Xiao-Ming Ah ~ if you could not make a noise,?