With the inauguration of the new president, the dramatic sway of power, and the drive for big government comes many different changes in our lives. The one most important to this soon-to-be-DC, is the push for socializing healthcare. We’ve heard the facts, weighed the pros and cons, and now it’s time to face the reality. Socializing healthcare may not be the best for our country, let alone our profession.
Socializing our healthcare system, in theory, has good intentions. We worry about those who can not afford healthcare; we see loved ones overcome by large medical bills; and we feel it is everyone’s right to have the opportunity to stay well. We want to help others. Again, in theory, I understand these thoughts. Yet, why do we always turn to the government to control these things? Why does that always sound like the only answer available?
Let’s breakdown a few points: 1) we are constantly told that we need someone else to fix our problems; we are helpless to the perils of life. God-given responsibilities are no longer valued; they are seen as burdens, and someone else’s problems. “Individuals aren’t regarded as competent to decide how to manage their lives and their health. So the government provides “cradle to grave” coverage of their healthcare.”[1] The newly elected president of the Canadian Medical Association, Dr. Brian Day, is no longer happy with the idea of socialized healthcare. “This is a country in which dogs can get a hip replacement in under a week," he told the New York Times earlier this year. "Humans can wait two to three years. ... In a free and democratic society, where you can spend money on gambling and alcohol and tobacco, the state has no business preventing us from spending our own money on healthcare."[4]
2) Socialized healthcare means that someone else will be footing my bill, they will be responsible for my health, and therefore I can abuse the system (and my body) as much as I want. “As a result, patients pay less than one-fourth of their bills directly, a prescription for overuse and cost inflation. (Consider the impact if everyone could choose a car knowing that three-fourths of the bill was going to someone else.)” [2] Do you think this “healthcare” really improves anyone’s health?
3) And let’s not forget that nationalizing healthcare will cost a fortune. “Just ask Governor Deval Patrick in Massachusetts, where just two years into operation, the state's mandatory health insurance plan is already costing $400 million more than budgeted.” [3] During this economic crisis, do we need to spend more money for an unproven system? The Obama plan “… doesn't include an exact cost, though casually notes the ballpark "investment" could run as high as $150 billion a year”.[4]
4) And this is supposed to save our current failed system? The reason the current system is failing is because our focus is on disease management. We would rather maintain a disease process than prevent it. And don’t think socializing will help our profession, a profession rooted in prevention. Long waiting lines, minimal hours with patients, lots of unnecessary paperwork, and high turnover rates of burnout doctors have been the status quo of “successful” nationalized plans. This is not what I signed up for in Chiropractic school.
Again, I feel the intent of socialized healthcare is good, no unhealthy person left behind. Yet, can we look into other options? We have a failed system at best, and we are looking to dig a deeper hole with a one-size fits all plan. Just because you currently do not have health insurance, does not mean the government (which passes it on to John Doe tax payer) needs to pick up your tab. Let’s work on a plan to prevent disease, and find causes (not just cures) for the illness that plagues our country. It might actually take some elbow grease and tough love, but I think this country could do better than what it’s being offered.
References
1) Openmarket.org: http://www.openmarket.org/2009/01/07/nationalized-health-care-growing-the-nanny-state/
2) CATO Institute: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6140
3) The Truth About Nationalized Healthcare by Maggie Gallagher: http://townhall.com/columnists/MaggieGallagher/2008/02/27/the_truth_about_nationalized_healthcare?page=2
4) Oh! Canada: Is Nationalized Healthcare Terminal? By Ted Byfield: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51690
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