Universal healthcare in America
I watched Sicko on Saturday and cried when I saw 9/11 volunteers suffering from chronic respiratory problems and other problems, unable to get treatment because they couldn't afford it or were flat-out denied by health insurance companies. After watching the movie I was very much for universal healthcare in America even though I've usually been against it. I'll admit I bought into the rhetoric against it, my main reason was along the lines that I didn't want to pay for someone getting diabetes from eating a diet loaded with sugary foods and drinks. Basically, I keep myself healthy so why can't you. But, after the movie, I saw how easy it is for anyone to have an accident and more importantly, to have insurance and still be denied treatment by your insurance company!
I've been doing more reading on universal healthcare lately because this movie really touched me, probably since health is a high focus of mine. It really is disgusting how our healthcare system is setup: designed to minimize its members utilization of it. This NewYorker article proved very enlightening on this subject. With most insurance schemes nowadays they're setup to minimize your use of it. Take an auto insurance policy, you cause a wreck your rates go up. It's an incentive for you to not utilize the service. In this case it's a good thing because it encourages you to be really careful behind the wheel. Health insurance though doesn't work well under this scheme, in fact it fares much worse. Disease gets worse the longer it goes unchecked so the sooner you treat and cure it the better. In terms of health insurance this means you want to utilize the service as soon as you can because it'll actually turn out to be financially cheaper than waiting. But the current U.S. health insurance schemes are setup like auto insurance, the more you use the more you pay.
I actually switched to a Health Savings Account (HSA) the moment I could a few years ago thinking it was the greatest thing. I was young, healthy, and rarely got the benefit of the high insurance premium I was paying so it seemed like a no-brainer. Now I feel like a total heel because by taking my money out of the insurance plan I was in, the sicker people that utilize the service will ultimately have to pay higher premiums. Man, HSAs are probably the worst thing, a complete antithesis to universal healthcare. I really don't like to get partisan on my blog and try to be fair, but I can't help but think the people who masterminded and presented HSAs knew about the long-term effect of them, i.e. as people switch to them there'll be less money in traditional health plans so rates will rise such that they become too expensive for anyone. Really have to wonder if the same forces in America that are against universal healthcare thought this up.
Ultimately the decision on whether or not we have universal healthcare in America rests not in issues such as costs, but whether or not we want to care for every citizen of the republic. Do you care more about yourself or society as a whole. I can't be a fence-sitter anymore, I want to help out other people and I'm willing to pay higher taxes to do so. If we really want healthcare for every citizen we can figure out the logistics and get it done. We do the same thing with the K-12 education system, we all pay taxes so our children can learn readin', 'ritin', and 'rithmetic. One thing's for sure, I need to cancel my HSA and switch back to a traditional group plan.