Universal health care has become the darling child of the Democratic Party. Of course, who doesn’t want free stuff however; is there really anything in life which is truly free? Is our current health care system broken? Are costs skyrocketing beyond control? Are small business owners being slowly strangled by unaffordable health care? Naturally, the answer to all of the previous questions is a resounding YES! The small company I work for has been absorbing ever increasing annual health care costs. I’ve been with this company for almost four years and during this time our deductible has increased from $250 to $2500. Is this the fault of my employer? No, he and his staff are doing everything possible to keep health care costs affordable. So, why is there an unremitting increase in costs? If I knew the answer to that question I would become exorbitantly wealthy. More than likely, it is a conglomeration of causes. Lack of competition across state lines, frivolous lawsuits, endless pharmaceutical marketing, and an aging, unhealthy and an out of shape consumer pool are just some of the likely culprits.
Universal health care will provide substandard care and it will create an unbelievable financial drain on the federal government and the taxpayers. Europe and Canada are over taxed and yet, the health care system in these places is fraught with incompetence. Why do so many of the residents in both of these geographical locales come here for delicate surgical operations? Simple, those procedures are more readily available here. We cannot afford universal health care. Some of you will argue that these are mere conservative and pro capitalist talking points. In order to prove my point, I will now provide you with a quick synopsis of military and veterans’ health care.
The military does attempt to provide quality health care and most often it does however; mistakes are oftentimes made. It would be impossible for me to calculate the number of hours I spent in waiting rooms in different military clinics over a 21 year career. My wife had a wart removed from her hand and they caused her to lose all feeling in that hand for close to a month. She had a hysterectomy and the nursing staff forgot her pain meds. Now that I’m retired I get to enjoy the inefficiencies of the Veterans’ Administration. Initially, it took my congressman to even get me into the system even though I am 60% disabled with two artificial hips. I have gone through 6 primary care physicians over an eight year period. I have to call the main VA hospital in Portland, Oregon in order to make an appointment with my primary care team here in Bend, Oregon. The primary care clinic is a mere 5 miles from my home. It takes upwards of 90 days to get an appointment with the orthopedic clinic to have my artificial hips checked out. I also have to lose an entire day’s work since I must drive to Portland for any orthopedic appointments. I cannot use TRICARE Prime here in central Oregon. Why? Physicians will not accept it because it takes the US government upwards of 90-180 days to make a payment for rendered care. TRICARE is the ‘universal’ health care for retired veterans.
The federal government couldn’t even help New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. How in the world will it ever manage universal health care for 300,000,000 Americans?
1 comment:
Incompetence is sometimes the matter of chance, not the practice in general! so, there is no need in premature conclusions)
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