Posted by
Young Republican on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 3:10:05 PM
The New York Times, had a rare event on it’s front page, a headline which highlighted the conservative case against universal health care coverage.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/05/us/05doctors.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=long%20wait%20in%20massachusetts%20health%20care&st=nyt&oref=slogin
There are many flaws with the idea of universal health care that don’t need to touch on the beliefs of a CEO of a HMO worried about their profit margins. Who amongst us has not experienced ER hell, tapping our feet in a waiting room who after waiting three hours wish we could trade fates with the gunshot victim who got wheeled in right away.
Can you imagine how long the waiting would be if everyone just showed up because the thought process of “Oh, what the hell, we aren’t paying for it anyway” would prevail. It’ll make anybody with insurance ponder if the ER visit is really necessary when they cut of one of their fingers by mistake.
One could make a good political argument against universal health care, in the pure Milton Friedman free market ideology. But really if the medical world could handle the extra case loads, perhaps many on the right myself included would quiet down. But since hospitals can’t handle their current case load, one would be remiss to support universal health care as proposed by both of the Democrats.
Another problem is this, right now, businesses, individual small business owners, and government agencies provide the vast majority if not all of the current people with insurance. In the competitive global market, many businesses in particular are cutting health care to their employees and telling their employees to go to the government for care. Wal-Mart for years has been accused of this for years, although recently reports indicate they have improved but still the movement in the market goes with dumping health care coverage.
So with employees guaranteed coverage under Clinton and Obama expect a huge if not complete stoppage of coverage covered by the private market. If that goes into effect expect the same coverage if you are a white collar employee as a mother on welfare.
Which brings me to the last substantial flaw with universal health care, in the movie John Q, a 2002 action picture starring Denzel Washington, a boy is denied a heart transplant even though he has insurance, albeit basic. While it may not happen all at once, once the basic guidelines of universal health care coverage take place, they will be a push and gradual success to provide premium health care coverage.
Everything must be covered otherwise the mainstream media will saturate the marketplace with weeping mothers who cry saying “If only it had been covered, my baby would have lived”. Congressional Democrats who will remain in power for the next decade if not longer will weep and continue to push “absolute and complete universal health care coverage”.
It’s a bleak picture one that will become a reality if either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton becomes President (all political analysts don’t expect either legislative branch to be in play for the Republicans until at least 2012 and by then it could be much worse). As FDR, taught us the damage one President can do has no bounds. Imagine the circumstances when Democrats think more bureaucracy is needed in the medical world.
Still in favor of a McCain boycott? It could be dangerous to your health.