Healthcare, Government Style: Be Careful What You Wish For

Thus far, our nation has watched the inept party driven antics in Congress debate over nationalized health care with emotions ranging from boredom to anger. Regardless of which side of the argument you side with, none of us can be happy with the course of events in Washington D.C. Most of our citizenry are unaware of just what a centralized health care system would look like. Veterans make up less than 10% of our population and they are the only ones with any real world knowledge regarding the inadequacies of government health care. As a veteran, and a vociferous opponent of government run health care, I feel that it is necessary to describe my case and use it to illustrate just how inefficient government run health care truly is.

I retired from the US Army in May of 1999. During my last year of service I was diagnosed with service connected severe osteoarthritis and severe necrosis in both of my hip joints. The Army conducted a total hip replacement of my right hip and this necessitated that I retire from active duty since I could no longer conduct airborne operations and perform my duties as a Special Forces Non-Commissioned Officer. Upon retirement, I was evaluated by the VA (Department of Veterans Affairs) and given a 50% disability rating. I received a rating of 30% for my artificial hip and 20% for the other hip. It took a Congressional Letter of Inquiry from my congressional representative to initially get me into the VA health care system. In 2004 I could no longer stand the pain in my left hip however; it took yet another Congressional Letter of Inquiry to get the VA to authorize a total hip replacement of my left hip. The VA contracted my surgery to a civilian orthopedic surgeon. This was fine with me but given today's debate, I do find it ironic that this decision was made because civilian care was more cost effective than government care. I've had only one pelvic x-ray and no examination by an orthopedic surgery since my surgery in 1999. Why? The answer is simple, the VA has no protocol for annual post surgery status diagnosis of prosthetic joints.

I have a VA clinic in my home town however, in order to see my primary care physician, I must call a VA hospital telephone service in Portland, Oregon to schedule an appointment at a clinic that is three miles from my house. If I need any treatment that cannot be taken care of at my local clinic I will usually have to wait between 3 and 6 months to see the specialist. Since 1999, I have had four primary care physicians at the same local VA clinic. The physicians have all left to enter private practice. On the other hand, since I have a private health care plan through my employer, I also have a civilian primary care physician and I've had her since 1999.

The personnel who staff the VA health care system are well meaning and do attempt to provide a quality health care experience for our veterans however; they are under staffed and under funded. So, I ask you, if veterans make up less than 10% of our total populace and the VA system remains ineffective, how can any form of nationalized health care that attempts to cover a population of over 300 million have any chance of success? We all can come to an agreement that health care costs are skyrocketing and that "something" needs to be done to rein in costs. That said, I will be the first to admit that I don't have an answer to the problem but, I also don't believe that a single political party should be deciding the course that we will take nor do I believe that we need to make a giant leap into the unknown. Small steps with constant cause and effect analysis are what are called for.

I would also like to see our nation enter into the deeply philosophic debate over whether or not health care is a basic human right and thus an inherent responsibility of government. I believe that it is not a human right but rather; it is an individual responsibility. If heath care is a human right, then why isn't sustenance or shelter also a basic human right? If the government has a responsibility to provide my healthcare, is it also the government's responsibility to feed, clothe and shelter me ? If we are, as I believe, "a nation of the people, and by the people", then why should I look to the government to provide me with what I should provide for myself? In the end, we must care for the destitute amongst us but, we must also nudge them forward towards self sustenance. Socialized nation states have proven themselves to be socio-economic failures and I see no reason for us to experiment at this time with such a stagnant socio-political view of mankind. At the end of the day, it is my responsibility to care for myself and my family members. I do not choose to hand over this control to anyone or any government entity at any time soon.

De Oppresso Liber