An open letter on the need for universal health care
I'm writing this to express my support for universal health care. I formerly was against this as I didn't want to support the health care costs of someone who, in my opinion, led an unhealthy lifestyle and thus incurred avoidable health expenses. But as I've been listening to arguments both for and against a universal health care system of some form I've decided universal health care is the way to go.
Financially I think such a system would work better than the patchwork system we have in place now. Administrative costs could be greater lowered by centralizing this function under one, or few, entities. The prime goal of insurance, to mitigate the costs of a product by spreading it over a large population, could be better met with a universal system.
Admittedly much could be done to lower health costs without going to universal health care: increasing the number of doctors in the country, lowering prescription drug prices by relaxing regulation somewhat allowing generics to be even cheaper, focus more on prevention so the greater cost of treating a problem can be avoided. I also have to wonder how much cheaper it would be to do business in this country if employers weren't burdened with providing for their employees' healthcare. Freed of this responsibility entrepreneurs would be able to take greater risks in starting a business, and businesses of all kinds could afford to pay their workers more. Health related insurance is the only one that is so commonly tied to an employer, neither home nor automobile insurance ends when a person changes jobs, why should health?
More philosophically I think a private for-profit system is antithetical to the goal of providing health care cheaply. If it were not for the experience of people in this country with this system I might think otherwise. But stories abound of people being denied insurance coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions, of being denied a particular treatment because the insurance company deems it not necessary (though the doctor does), or a person having their insurance flatly revoked because they're utilizing its services too much. What is the point of having health insurance if the insurer will not honor their end of the bargain? Unfortunately the existence of a profit motive has shown itself to create a pernicious incentive for health insurers to deny care.
It seems many in this country do not like the idea of a public health care system, or said another way a government health care system since government is the public. I've seen arguments where they state it's not the role of government to provide health care, that it's not a right, that's it's not a delineated power of the U.S. Constitution. I counter by saying there are many social institutions that the Constitution has not precisely defined but over the years America has decided should be a public service. Services such as the protection of dwellings from fire, providing a minimum education to children, establishing a financial safety net for those retired from working. This fear of socialist institutions is unfounded given the many socialist institutions that are currently in place.
The time for excessive and continuous debate is nigh over. People are going bankrupt over high medical costs now. People are going without their healthcare problems being treated because of high cost now. The time is now to enact healthcare reform, and it's my hope and belief that reform takes the form of universal health care, supported by America for America.