The ‘current’ health debate certainly offers some de javu moments, harking back to the last time it was the centre of an American political debate. Strangely enough, this was shortly after the last Democratic President was elected about 15 years ago. I wasn’t in a position to remember what it was like 30 years ago, because I was too busy destroying some brain cells on the way to needing some healthcare, but I imagine it was the same.
Bring in anyone other than a Republican administration, and they are going to try to give more people healthcare than currently get it. There is a huge outcry from a certain section of the US voter, and the media portray it as a 50/50 split across the nation. Of course, this isn’t true.
On a trans-continental flight about the time of Clinton’s attempt to open up healthcare, I spent a long time listening to an American try to understand a socialised medical system.
“Doesn’t this mean that someone is getting your healthcare?” was the question that I couldn’t help but laugh at. This is, of course, the central question. Not the Racial debate, not the Power debate, not The Place of Insurance In Our Lives debate. It is way more pragmatic than that: Who IS Going To Pay for it. In this case, it is the same debate in every country in the World – Even the UK, home of Socialised Medicine, there has always been a sizeable section of the populace that don’t like the idea of paying into a society-sized pot to look after others when you don’t need it, and to get care when you do.
Looking at the argument from the opposite POV, I have a real difficulty asking a question of a professional that I have to trust while knowing their only concern is the personal profit margin they could earn from it. That alone paints me as someone from a certain political stripe that would exasperate someone from a purely capitalist place, so the idea of consensus is absolutely pie-in-the-sky. S’Aint Happenin’.
If you trust a Government to run Law and Order, and Education, shouldn’t we at least ensure that they also are responsible for maintaining health? Shouldn’t everyone at least have a shot at getting to see a Doctor when they need it without having to re-mortgage their foreclosed property to do it? Or, to put it another way:
If the only real problem with health care for all is that illegal immigrants will get it, then let’s not employ them in the first place. I guarantee that their employers are not the ones desperate for Health Insurance. With the rest of the World knocking at the West’s door, it is worth remembering that part of the reason for them moving is better health care. As the rest of the World start to outnumber the Rich, White First World, how are doctors going to able to afford to make a living purely from our receding numbers?
Perhaps we will have to pay more, and deny medical service to more so that that professional can keep a Lexus on the driveway.
Recent Comments