Heatlhcare Debate

[Jason Harris 31]

Long before the Clintons crashed and burned in the Capitol arguing for healthcare reform, I thought that universal healthcare would be a less costly improvement to the current system in the U.S.

To me, it's a no-brainer. With Obama's speech scheduled tonight, I'd like to hear dissenting arguments why changing the current system would be detrimental to our individual health, as well as economic health.

A few facts:

1) The U.S. was last ranked 37th by the World Health Organization, based on life expectancy, preventable deaths, expenditures as a percentage of GDP, and other factors.

Some have replied with "where else would you want to be?" as though it's a trump card. That argument has holes, because when I was in Toronto, a friend of Gouche was visiting from Winnipeg and began to feel weak because he needed dialysis. Gouche called the hospital, we dropped his friend off, then picked him up three hours later with no outlay of money. I recognize there are times when one would easily want to be in the U.S. for medical care, but I'm quite confident that Gouche's friend was much happier to be in Canada for those few hours.

2) It is estimated the U.S. spends $4.5 on healthcare, of which $400 to $700 billion is for the administration alone. This works out to an estimated $4271 per capita, which is 10% higher than the next closest (Norway) and twice as much as the 13th (Austria).

3) Estimates vary, but anywhere between 18% to 27% of Americans do not have health insurance. That's 50 to 80 million people without health insurance, which is a huge burden for those of us with insurance, since we ultimately pay whenever someone without insurance visits an emergency room. In other words, it's far less expensive to give someone a prescription for amoxicillin than it is to admit them into an ER with pneumonia.

4) Inflation has averaged about 2.5% for the past ten years, while health insurance premiums have increased by double digits annually. That will only lead to more people going without insurance.

5) Former employees of health insurance companies have admitted their bonuses were based on the percentage of claim denials, overriding doctors' opinions. Pre-existing conditions are often used to deny coverage in the first place.

Those are just some facts. We can all bring more into the discussion.

One last thing. I've heard the libertarian position of "who says healthcare should be guaranteed?" A valid point. One that I won't try to argue from a humanist's point that it's the right thing to do. However, from a medical or economic view position, that less epidemics would occur, and the cost of living would decrease, if we had a universal healthcare system.

There are just some things that a group of people can do more efficiently or economically than individuals.

Fire away. boys!

[Chadd 916]

Given the hostility on a large number of topics lately, this is just a bad idea right now. I'd rather be a prick and close it now than have to deal with pages of absurd arguments and then be a prick.