From Walter Williams, writing in the Washington Times:
One of the campaign themes this election cycle is “affordable” health care. Shouldn’t we ask ourselves whether we want the politicians who brought us the “affordable” housing, that created the current financial debacle, to now deliver us affordable health care?
October 29, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Instead of pursuing “affordable” health care why don’t we pursue the reason Health care isn’t affordable?
Just like college, we will start with the fact that these institutions are privatized and work on the concept of making a profit. They are going to charge as much as they can for their services so they can maximize profits. So here it begins.
Then you add government subsidies. By having the government subsidize hospitals we change the ceiling of how much a service should cost, in comparison to what can be afforded.
Then add Insurance Companies, another middleman skimming the till for profit. This just raises prices even more. Now the insurance companies wont even pay 100% of the bill when it comes due, they pay a negotiated amount, something you and I cant do. Where do you think the rest of that bill goes? Spread the wealth, thats right.
Now you have the un-insured and the poor. Both of which dont pay at all, or pay a fraction of the cost you and I would for the same service. Another cost overrun.
Makes it pretty easy to see where the money goes.
Whats the solution? Socialism. If we are going to call health care a RIGHT (not a benefit, not a priveledge, but a RIGHT) then socialize it. Pay tax on your income directly to a fund that pays for Health care.
Eliminate the insurance companies, theres a price break, in this scenario there are no subsidies, so that cost is eliminated. Once you include taxes coming in from all those people who dont pay for health insurance now, you have increased the money pool available and lowered the capital required for the same service.
Im sure someone is gonna say “Look at Canada, we dont want to be like them”. Well what about being like everyone else? The U.S. is the ONLY industrialized nation without a universal health care system. We (as a country) spend more than ANY other country on health care, but are ranked 72nd in overall health (Canada is 35th on half the money spent per capita).
I hate socialism, but I can see the only people benefiting from the current system are the Insurance companies, the health care “professionals” and those who dont pay for services. Lets just go ahead and make it work for everyone.