All Americans naturally want all Americans to have whatever medical care is necessary and has prospects of being beneficial in making our lives longer and more comfortable. But not all ills can be cured. And certainly, not all treatments can be provided “free.”
But what if we insisted all medical care would be “free”? We just wouldn’t have very much medical care. Hospitals and doctors’ offices and prescription providers just can’t operate “free.”
Even in the Bible’s exemplary story of the Good Samaritan, who encountered a man of different religion and hated nationality, beaten and left for dead on the road, when the Good Samaritan commendably took the victim to an inn for recovery, the Good Samaritan paid the bill.
Since modern medical miracles — and even ordinary treatments — have their costs, we have devised a marvelous system of medical-care insurance to help supplement our immediate out-of-pocket-now payments of medical bills. In most cases, employees and employers cooperate to foot the bill, which is substantial. There is still personal responsibility. For the most part, it works fairly well. There also is much charity care, and should be. But all of it is expensive and can be burdensome.
That’s why politicians appeal to us by offering some degree of “government” medical care, “socialized” medicine, to take the burden from “us.” They tend to try to make us forget that “somebody” — we — eventually has to pay. Some politicians try to make us think “somebody else” will pay. But honestly, any “government” medicine becomes a severe drag upon us all, directly or indirectly through taxes, and indirectly through a burden upon our whole economy, which adversely affects the pocketbooks of us all.
Ironically, the more we tend to accept the idea that “government” can solve the problem, that medical care can be “free,” we not only increase the demand for it, since cost would not discourage overuse, but we get less quality care, simply because it isn’t free and can’t be.
If we don’t pay hospitals, we surely will have fewer and lower-quality hospitals. If we don’t pay doctors, there will be fewer doctors and lower quality. If we don’t pay for prescriptions, the medical miracle drugs will disappear and new ones won’t be developed.
There’s no such thing as “free” medical care.
So what we need to do is assure the availability of good — and better — medical care for us all, not through socialized medicine, but through personal responsibility, carefully tailored insurance policies, and ultimately, charity for the really poor. We can’t expect “somebody else” to pay the bill. We need honest, reasonable ways through insurance to get what we really need, cut waste and costly bureaucratic red tape, and assure a sound balance between good health and reasonable costs.
“Government” medicine makes big promises. But it involves big costs — and lower quality. Government can no more give us “free” medical care than it can feed us “free,” and clothe us “free,” and retire us “free,” or give us any of our heart’s desires “free.”
We all know that. But it is amazing how many of us insist on pretending otherwise, with great and painful costs and disappointments.
We already have an example of government health care, we call it Medicare. All Americans over the age of 65 are covered,select their own doctor,can buy additional insurance coverage,and must contribute to the system. Medicare is far from perfect,but it is universal,it works better than the current insurance system that now covers those under 65,and it does not resemble the contorted concoction described in the editorial above.
Systems around the world similar to Medicare cost up to 40% less than we now pay for insurance industry health care.
Tuning our backs on a reasonable approach to health care reminds me of America's failure to adapt to the world standard for weights and measures. It can only make the road ahead more difficult.
Once again NC you demonstrate clearly you know nothing about Medicare other than what you've been fed. Works great for the patient (as it should) but the back end is a quagmire of rules, regulations, and after the fact denial of payment to the provider. Not to mention it's bankrupt. Nobody in their right mind is against "healthcare reform". What is that? Do you know? If you do, you're way ahead of those who support this travesty in Washington. If you think private insurance is all about denial of treatment (rationing), you "ain't seen nothing yet". In fact, it's already started with those nasty insurance companies that administer Medicare for the gov demanding "risk assessment (translation: patients who cost too much" to "Dear provider - we're dropping you from Medicare because you spend too much treating patients". The insurance company's reason? New rules from Medicare.
Fact: An infinite demand can not be satisfied by a finite resource. And you call this "reasonable"??
Sailorman,I will simply point out that it works other places.If you are suggesting America is not able to do what other countries do,that is a different discussion.
NN and people like him refuse to see reality Sailorman.
There is ample evidence and millions of folks like myself who have seen the 'beast' and lived with it, we know it does not "work", except for the Government and bureaucrats who keep getting richer and fatter. Moreover, Medicare/aid and states that have had Medi-cal, Tenn-aid, etc. are overburdened already by corruption and fraud within those HC systems. Anyone in this country who turns a blind eye and deaf ear to legitimate concerns is only looking out for their own self-interests and their own agendas.
To keep calling us "supporters and lobbyists for the insurance industry" shows an utter inability to face reasonable facts and to have any sort of compassion for the working folks who will be the ones that suffer and pay for the "Progressive" fantasy.
Actually I don't know why I bothered to respond to NC. I should know better by now. On an entire spectrum of topics, from guns to medicine, he lives in his own bubble. I wish him well in said bubble.
Have a nice day
Funny, I thought NC had some good points.
Canary,since you mention government corruption,let me remind you that the most egregious corruption in the history of the modern world was pulled off by our very own "to big to fail" financial sector". It was big bank lobby money that corrupted the Congress into rolling back regulations and allowed the disaster we are now enjoying to unfold.
The health insurance and big Pharma lobbies have been playing havoc with the current bill,causing it to be far more expensive than it should be. Corruption seems to be an affliction that permeates both public and private sectors. It must have to do with the universality of greed.
Sailorman,you make a good point about the bubble. My wife often says my mind is way out there somewhere,usually over the horizon. We all have our afflictions.
lol NC that we do. Your wife sounds like mine. Perhaps we should listen to them more!
"It was big bank lobby money that corrupted the Congress into rolling back regulations and allowed the disaster we are now enjoying to unfold."
That we can agree on. So why are those congress critters still there instead of in jail? Along with those yahoos on wall street? They all should be lined up and shot. The sad part is that it's like the Energizer bunny - just keeps going and going and going.
Don't blame it all on lobbyists. If they didn't find a willing audience, they wouldn't continue lobbying.
To the original discussion. You offered up Medicare as a good example. I say it's not and can offer multitudes more reasons why it's a typical bureaucratic bumble - expensive and inefficient. There are tons of money to be saved within the existing framework, It's bad but at least there are really folks who, given an opportunity, have good ideas as to how to fix it. This new boondoggle does nothing to improve the situation.
Other countries can do it? Maybe but at what cost? You believe there is no truth to the veiled rationing that goes on? Of course America could do it (I never suggested otherwise) but NOT with the current claptrap being proposed. Deeper and deeper in debt we go. A bad bill is NOT better than nothing at all which is what seems to be the target - anything at all. D*mn the cost - full speed ahead. And we're broke.
Sailorman,I want to see a system that is universal and portable (from job to job).You are correct that rationing will be a part any system. That's where insurance companies become useful,to insure at various levels above BASIC healthcare. Basic healthcare might be defined as what 11% of GDP will buy,everything else is an insurance option at additional cost.
The bill going through Congress gives me heartburn,but I haven't given up hope that the end product will be better than what we now have.
Heartburn is an understatement. Portable they could do right now along with myriad other changes. Congress prefers to take this opportunity to expand its control over our lives rather than actually give the American people something that actually addresses the issues
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