We need socialized healthcare
By: Michael Harman
Issue date: 11/23/09 Section: Opinion
Right now, the U.S. Senate is trying (and failing) to pass the health care bill that squeaked through the House of Representatives two weeks ago. There are bitter opponents to this bill, which would provide health care coverage to 96 percent of Americans under the age of 65, for a number of reasons.
However, the obvious must be stated - no matter how terrifying SOCIALIZED medicine might be to some citizens of this country, the United States desperately needs it. The free market can sometimes make for better products and services for consumers; my editorial on shopping online for textbooks proves I have some faith in competition. But not everything should be for-profit. There are many examples of socialism in the U.S. already: fire departments, police departments, public schools; all of these are socialist institutions. And what do you know, the U.S. hasn't replaced the Constitution with the Communist Manifesto yet. Guess that slippery slope hasn't been greased up in awhile.
Health care though, should not be negotiable. The instant that medicine is sold to the sick to make money, the system stops trying to help people and starts trying to turn a profit. The fact is, no matter how bad this health care bill might be, or how expensive, nothing could possibly be worse than the miserable, inadequate, ruinous system that we currently have.
If I were given a dollar for every time someone told me that America has the best health care system in the world, I would be able to afford health insurance. The truth is that the United States ranks pitifully low on the ranking of health care quality - number 37, to be exact, just above Slovenia. To be fair, though, the World Health Organization (who compiles a list of quality of health care among nations) packed numbers one through 36 with extremely wealthy countries that can afford to give good health care to their citizens; real rich, prosperous countries like Finland, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Chile. Because those are the countries you think of when we're talking about the richest nations in the world, right? You'd think that would be the answer, but in fact the U.S. spends more money, per person, on health care than any other country, and gets nothing for it.
However, the obvious must be stated - no matter how terrifying SOCIALIZED medicine might be to some citizens of this country, the United States desperately needs it. The free market can sometimes make for better products and services for consumers; my editorial on shopping online for textbooks proves I have some faith in competition. But not everything should be for-profit. There are many examples of socialism in the U.S. already: fire departments, police departments, public schools; all of these are socialist institutions. And what do you know, the U.S. hasn't replaced the Constitution with the Communist Manifesto yet. Guess that slippery slope hasn't been greased up in awhile.
Health care though, should not be negotiable. The instant that medicine is sold to the sick to make money, the system stops trying to help people and starts trying to turn a profit. The fact is, no matter how bad this health care bill might be, or how expensive, nothing could possibly be worse than the miserable, inadequate, ruinous system that we currently have.
If I were given a dollar for every time someone told me that America has the best health care system in the world, I would be able to afford health insurance. The truth is that the United States ranks pitifully low on the ranking of health care quality - number 37, to be exact, just above Slovenia. To be fair, though, the World Health Organization (who compiles a list of quality of health care among nations) packed numbers one through 36 with extremely wealthy countries that can afford to give good health care to their citizens; real rich, prosperous countries like Finland, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Chile. Because those are the countries you think of when we're talking about the richest nations in the world, right? You'd think that would be the answer, but in fact the U.S. spends more money, per person, on health care than any other country, and gets nothing for it.