Teddy Kennedy stood at the podium of the Democratic Convention and proclaimed that now was the time for socialized medicine. This from a man who has benefited from the best healthcare system in the world. So once again one of the hot button issues this election year will be goverment controled medicine. But before Americans eagerly jump on the “free medicine” bandwagon that the Democratic Party and candidate Obama are promising, they should take heed of the state of socialized healthcare throughout the world, in particular England.
The Times reporter Libby Purves recently wrote about the “muddled, irrational, and inconsistent” healthcare resources that are a reality of socialized medicine in England. Ms. Purves states with a degree of abject defeat that “the truth is that there will never be enough money in the pot to meet every need with the best and latest treatment.” Is this the healthcare future we want for the United States? A healthcare system where goverment oversight decides who should get treatment, and when? Does this sound like a healthcare model that respects the patient - doctor relationship? Hardly!
Is there any doubt that the same government that has bankrupted Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid would do any better? Is it realistic for us to believe that a goverment that squandered millions of dollars on studies such as the mating habits of the “great bucked-toothed Minnesota Chipmunk," will somehow suddenly find their fiscal conscience? It is estimated that 68 BILLION dollars was wasted within the healthcare system in the United States in 2007 due to overall fraud! It is further estimated that at least 10% of the Medicaid budget is lost to fraud; and Medicaid is the healthcare program that Deomcrats hold up as a model of success!
1930’s Socialist Norman Thomas once stated that – “the American people would never vote for Socialism, but under the name of Liberalism, the American people will adopt every fragment of the socialist programs.” Mr. Thomas was right. Socialism has morphed over the years, from Socialism to Liberalism to Progressivism. But no matter how you say it, what we are talking about is a “socialist dictatorship,” where the government believes that they know what is best for you. Barrak Obama wants to be our next President, and he has a “revolutionary” new 110 BILLION dollar (projected first year cost) healthcare system in store for America.
Obama and the Democrats are proposing a healthcare plan in the mold of the European and Canadian models, both of which are in crisis. In order for the plan to “work,” it would eventually require everyone to enroll. One of the more interesting elements of the Democratic plan would ultimately require the enrollment of healthy people 18 to 30 (who make up 20% of the uninsured, according to the Census Bureau – and who often forgo insurance), because you see Obama and the Democrats will argue that their premium payments are necessary to offset costs incurred by older, sicker patients.” Great... another pyramid scheme run by the government…it worked so well funding Social Security and Medicare.
What if a person chooses not to participate, what will be the repercussions? Arrest and jail time? Would we forcefully garnish their wages like we do with taxes, Social Security, and Medicare? In support of their plan, Obama and the Democrats (as do all Progressives interested in healthcare reform) continue to use the false claim that “one in six Americans (or 48 million)” do not have healthcare. Wait a minute, didn’t the Census Bureau say that many 18 to 30 year olds “forgo” insurance, but yet they are somehow included in that 48 million? Their lack of wiliness to participate should surely reduce the overall “uninsured” numbers? Gee….do you think there might be other inflated numbers regarding this “statistic?”
There’s at least 10 million that aren’t even Americans. That’s right, illegal immigrants are counted in that number. The Census Bureau claims that only 13.4 percent of native-born Americans do not have health insurance, and 17.9 percent of naturalized citizens are without health insurance. It is believed that no less than 25% of the uninsured are in fact not American, they are illegal aliens. That is not to say they are not deserving of healthcare, but lets stop lying about whom the uninsured really are.
Devon Herrick, senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), learned that on numerous occasions, Census Bureau officials have acknowledged the uninsured number is inflated because the Bureau reports as "uninsured" those adults and children who are eligible for an existing government health services, such as Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), but are not enrolled. Herrick observed, "Being uninsured in America is often a matter of choice. Most uninsured people either can afford health insurance or qualify for government-sponsored health care programs; they just choose not to enroll."
- There are as many as 15 million "uninsured" individuals in households with less than $25,000 of income. Many of these individuals meet the income test for Medicaid or SCHIP eligibility, but they are not technically enrolled and are therefore considered by the Census Bureau to be uninsured.
- However, as soon as a person who is eligible for Medicaid, but not enrolled, enters the healthcare system through a hospital or clinic, he or she is automatically enrolled into the Medicaid plan. Therefore, counting this population as "uninsured" distorts the data significantly, since these individuals can enroll at any time and have their medical expenses paid whenever they require health care.
But those are not the only factors that lead to the false figure of 45, 48, or 50 million people (the Democrats keep changing the number) without health insurance:
- According to the U.S. Census Bureau, thirty-seven percent of that group lives in households making more than $50,000 a year, says the U.S. Census Bureau
- Nineteen percent are in households making more than $75,000 a year
- 25 percent are not citizens
- 33 percent are eligible for existing government programs but are not enrolled
After you do the entire math correctly, in the end you get to around 8 million people who may not have had health insurance in the prior year (which represents less than .02 % of the population of the United Sates!).
It is important to understand the true number of people in need before we embark on another disastrous government run program. When people are uninsured, how long they remain uninsured, and why they are uninsured are factors that need to be considered (Congressional Budget Office - How Many People Lack Insurance and for How Long?).
Obama would slowly move healthcare from the private sector to public control (yikes!!) Although I suspect that Obama, like many Progressives (Progressive = Liberal = Socialist), believe what they are doing this for the “greater good,” it is just another place government does not need to be. In Washington power is equated to control. The expansion of failed entitlement programs, the demonizing of capitalism, and playing Robin Hood in the form of unfair taxes, are all methods of control. Are we really prepared to add our healthcare to that list? Can we afford to put our healthcare needs in the hands of the politicians in Washington, DC?
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Who is talking about "socialized medicine"? The majority of Americans favor a single-payer system; which does nothing to the existing health care system, but instead scraps the cost-prohibitive private insurance industry currently in place in America.
Currently veterans, children, retirees, members of Congress and Americans with disabilities all enjoy the advantages of single payer systems. Why not the rest of us?
The insurance industry with its high paid executives, army of clerks, and departments whose exclusive reason for existence is to deny claims takes 30-40% off the top of every dollar spent on health care. It's obscene! It's absurd making no economic sense.
The majority of Americans have figured it out. Why can't the glutless wonders in Washington, DC. have an epithany. It's estimated that 21,000 Americans are dying needlessly each year due to the lack of health insurance. This is a national disgrace. But there are also millions of Americans who are underinsured.
This is costng our country billions of dollars in wasted money. It makes no economic sense to treat a child in an emergency room for the flu; because his/her parents cannot afford health insurance. It makes no sense for an American to put off treatment until the condition becomes an emergency due to the lack of insurance.
We currently spend more than enough to cover each and every American, but unfortunately much of those funds go for obscene salaries of CEO's, advertising budgets, rent for millions of square feet of real estate, armies of employees charged with denying claims. Let's get those people into productive endeavors by removing private insurance from the mix and using the savings to promote healthy lives for all Americans.
1- Who is talking about "socialized medicine"? The majority of Americans favor a single-payer system; which does nothing to the existing health care system, but instead scraps the cost-prohibitive private insurance industry currently in place in America.
Answer- When the government takes control, regardless of how far reaching, of any part of a privatized industry, it is socialism. Neither candidate is advocating a single-payer system (at least openly) right now; but Obama’s plan would eventually lead to a single-payer plan. But even so, a single payer system is socialized medicine, and would require a expand bureaucracy to control.
2- Currently veterans, children, retirees, members of Congress and Americans with disabilities all enjoy the advantages of single payer systems. Why not the rest of us?
Answer- How is that working out? As my article indicates there are BILLIONS of dollars wasted within government controlled programs. Private industry is better at managing fraud and waste than the United States government could ever hope to achieve.
3- The insurance industry with its high paid executives, army of clerks, and departments whose exclusive reason for existence is to deny claims takes 30-40% off the top of every dollar spent on health care. It's obscene! It's absurd making no economic sense.
Answer- Executives like Michelle Obama? What will happen to those “army of clerks and departments” when the government takes over. Even Barrack Obama is concerned about that in his health plan (as it stands right now), he would allow private health care providers to continue, with “slight” oversights. But eventually Obama will leads to a single-payer plan, completely controlled by the government (Wall Street Journal: Obama Wants The Government To Control Healthcare)
And what about the Doctors, nurses, and other providers who continue to increase their salaries, shouldn’t we regulate them as well. They did that in France, which drove many health care providers into “private practice,” which was not part of the State run healthcare program.
Better yet, shouldn’t we adjust the amount a college charges a student to study to become a doctor or nurse. Let’s set an “educational tuition control” for all healthcare studies. Oh, that’s right, they did that in India, and all the Doctors moved to the United States.
We will be trading one bureaucracy for another. The problem is that the “new” bureaucracy has a deep history rooted in failure. Private industry will ALWAYS beat the US Government at running efficiently. As for the denial claims, after all is said in done, most claims are denied because of procedural failures or fraud.
4- The majority of Americans have figured it out. Why can't the glutless wonders in Washington, DC. have an epithany. It's estimated that 21,000 Americans are dying needlessly each year due to the lack of health insurance. This is a national disgrace. But there are also millions of Americans who are underinsured.
Answer- When faced with their healthcare choices, one being the Democrats’ plan, which absolutely increases government control of healthcare or the current model, which encourages individual control, American’s will choose the latter.
Americans do not want more government control over the healthcare. In fact, a ABC/Kaiser Family Foundation/USA Today poll, found the American people like the idea of universal coverage in theory. But, when they learn about the realities of universal healthcare they cringe at the idea very quickly, as they did in 1993.
Right now, 88 percent of insured Americans are satisfied with their coverage, and 89 percent are satisfied with the quality of care they receive.
Without any context, it is unfortunate that 21,000 Americans are dying because of a “lack of health insurance.” But that number is dubious at best without any actual situations to evaluate.
5- This is costng our country billions of dollars in wasted money. It makes no economic sense to treat a child in an emergency room for the flu; because his/her parents cannot afford health insurance. It makes no sense for an American to put off treatment until the condition becomes an emergency due to the lack of insurance.
Answer- Once again, as my article stated, it is less about the lack of coverage, and more about a sense of responsibility on the part of the patient (I am sure someone will call me insensitive for that remark, but it is a reality none the less), which would not go away with socialized medicine (oh, I am sorry……single-payer coverage).
6- We currently spend more than enough to cover each and every American, but unfortunately much of those funds go for obscene salaries of CEO's, advertising budgets, rent for millions of square feet of real estate, armies of employees charged with denying claims. Let's get those people into productive endeavors by removing private insurance from the mix and using the savings to promote healthy lives for all Americans.
Answer- And none of that goes away, and if history is any indicator, under the control of the United States Government it will get far more obscene. When the math is all said and done, there are approximately 8 million people that need our help. You want to scrap the best healthcare system in the world, jeopardizing 292 million other citizens? Now that is obscene.
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