Many are mad about the healthcare reform bill. I keep hearing it called "socialist". I choose not to agree, or disagree, because like most American policies it is a compromise between socialism and capitalism, and other -isms. Consider the following:
Before the reform bill, noone was required to carry health insurance. When the uninsured got sick though, hospitals and ambulance providers were required to provide them care, whether they could or would pay for it or not. All people were granted the right to free healthcare (socialism).
Healthcare providers (hospitals, ambulance companies, etc.) have to pay for their costs somehow, and many of their patients are uninsured and can't afford to pay (about half where I live). To cover these costs the providers bill those who can pay at higher rates. Government insurances refuse to pay more than a given amount, so healthcare providers increase billing rates even more to get more money out of private insurances, resulting in higher insurance premiums for the working class. The working class has been forced to pay higher premiums to cover the cost of the uninsured and taxed to provide government healthcare those who qualify. Those who can afford it have been forced to pay for the healthcare of those who can't so that we all get the same benefits (communism).
Now after the bill is enacted, everyone will be required to have health insurance. This will mean more business for insurance companies, more competition, and lower premiums eventually, and probably very quickly. This will mean that every person is required to pay for their own services, on a fees-for-service basis, and no longer able to rely on society to pay their bills for them (capitalism).
It is true that if you only view it from the standpoint that we are being told what to do, then yes it seems very...whatever you want to call it. The fact is that the only other "capitalistic" option is to remove laws that require hospitals and ambulance providers to provide care to everyone regardless of ability to pay. We can let paramedics and triage nurses require insurance cards or cash-in-hand before giving assessments and treatments just like they do at the doctor's office. If you think that would be unjust because "all people are entitled to healthcare", well that is a socialist ideal, and you really want socialism so just think about that.
From my point of view as a paramedic I think that the new healthcare reform bill will be good for people's well being in the long run. People will be healthier because not only will they have healthcare, but they will be able to go to the doctor anytime, and the sooner they go, the cheaper it will be. I have seen all too many times a patient wait through being ill because they couldn't afford to go in, until they were so critically ill that they had no choice, in turn changing what could have been a $100 doctor visit into a $20,000+ visit to the ICU.
The fact is that illnesses, like accidents, just happen. We are required to have car insurnace because of this, and so it only makes sense to have health insurance too. My fiancée had an emergency appendectomy last year. Without warning she was ill, in the ER, in surgery, and then admitted for a total cost after just a couple days of over $50,000. Without insurance...well you can imagine.
Think about what really is socialist, communist, capitalist, or whatever -ist label you want to put on our society before you rant too much. If you really want a truly and fully capitalist healthcare system, be willing to be the one to swipe credit cards and turn away the uninsured at the emergency room doors.
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Excellent post. You should submit this for the next edition of the Grand Rounds Blog Carnival http://www.seefirstblog.com/2010/03/23/grand-rounds-call-for-entries/
ReplyDeleteThis healthcare reform is designed to help the hard working middle class Americans who can't afford insurance or no longer qualify for insurance because of pre-existing conditions. These are the very people who pay their bills and hope to retire with a modest nest egg. Some live paycheck to paycheck until medicare kicks in. These are the folks who get financially devastated if they have a major illness. Their nest egg gets crushed because of the high costs of hospital care. They don't have an insurance company to negotiate the costs, they have to pay top dollar.
ReplyDeleteAgreed Paulo. I think it has the definite potential to help those who need it, and in turn also have a potitive effect on those who don't just the same.
ReplyDeleteWe are required to have automobile insurance because of the risk of harm to others, not ourselves. We don't have to have coverage of our own injuries, but of other people's.
ReplyDeleteMany people, especially young people, are uninsured because they have decided that they don't need insurance. Like any other financial decision there is risk involved.
Healthcare reform, so called, is designed to take over control of 1/6 of the US economy and concentrate that in the hands of the federal government. Look at every other socialized medicine nation and you can see the future here in the US. Worse care, longer waits, higher costs, worse outcomes.
Keep in mind that the vast majority of people are happy with their health insurance, although some are not happy with the costs. There are far more efficient ways to obtain coverage for the relatively few who don't have insurance.
I must admit I'm not an absolute expert on medical care abroad, but from what I have learned, counries with socialized medicine do not have worse, longer, higher, etc. on average. And if they have late, remember that the US has never. Especially in Scandinavian countries they have great healthcare access with less need because people are healthier. Also Spain, France, and the UK; all better health and better access.
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