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Conservatives are scared, and they want to scare you. Their best arguments against giving all Americans access to health care do not really add up. The truth is a lot less scary than the smoke and mirrors they are using to defeat health care reform.
This list mostly came from BalancedPolitics.org. It gives the main arguments against giving everyone access to health care, along with a little dose of-aaack! Truth.
The government will make decisions about your health care. Right now, someone in a health insurance company is making decisions about your care. This person is paid to find ways not to spend money on you. This person, who is usually a doctor, makes bonuses for denying coverage for services. Health insurance companies make a lot of money. They do this by collecting premiums and paying out as little as they can manage. Shutting them down would save Americans trillions of dollars. Administrative costs consume thirty cents of every health care dollar. If you didn’t have to pay for the person whose job it is to try to deny your claim, and you didn’t have to pay for the medical clerks who file your claims, you might actually get to spend some money on your health care.
"Free" health care isn’t really free since we must pay for it with taxes; expenses for health care would have to be paid for with higher taxes or spending cuts in other areas such as defense, education, etc. Hold the phone, kids. You pay for health care now. If you pay as you go right now, you may have to pay a monthly premium instead. Otherwise, if you have health insurance, you will be doing the same thing you have always done. What will change is whom you pay. You will stop paying the people who don’t want you to get any health care.
Profit motives, competition, and individual ingenuity have always led to greater cost control and effectiveness. Yeah, right. That’s why medicine is so inexpensive and efficient now. Profit motive has brought you office visits that put the doctor in the room with you for 3-5 minutes and cost $100. Profit motive has brought you prescription medicines that doctors favor over older, more effective drugs that cost a fraction as much. And yes, profit motive has brought you that guy who makes a bonus when he denies your claim.
Government-controlled health care would lead to a decrease in patient flexibility. This argument begins with scare-words and never gets beyond that. The Veterans’ Administration takes care of seeing that veterans receive the care they need. It does not control their care. Doctors and other medical practitioners control the care vets receive. Now to "flexibility." The plan probably would not pay for you to go to a shaman or a veterinarian, but that is not what the argument is about. The anti-universal health care people want you to think that you will be paying for breast augmentation and plastic surgery. Most medical insurance does not cover these things now. The argument claims that there will be "controls that limit patient options." These controls already exist. You will still have to pay for your own breast enhancement, just like now. What will change is that you won’t have to decide which finger to get re-attached if you have an accident that cuts three of them off.
Patients aren’t likely to curb their drug costs and doctor visits if health care is free; thus, total costs will be several times what they are now.First of all, health care is not now, nor will it ever be free. No one is claiming that it will be free. It will simply stop being something that some people cannot afford. Then we have the assumption that people will run to the doctor every time they sneeze. Think about it. Do you have time to go to the doctor every time you catch a cold? Have you ever not gone to the doctor because you knew you had the flu and knew that you couldn’t afford the office visit? With the 2001-H1N1 flu virus about to be declared a pandemic, is it a good idea for people to refrain from seeking treatment for monetary reasons? Not all cases of minor illnesses are seen by doctors now. Physician assistants and nurse practitioners care for many people seeking routine care. As for drug costs, when the pharmaceutical companies stop telling doctors which drugs to prescribe, doctors will be able to prescribe for people based on their medical needs.
Government is more likely to pass additional restrictions or increase taxes on smoking, fast food, etc., leading to a further loss of personal freedoms.Because everyone thinks smoking is a great idea, right?
Next Week: Seven More Silly Universal Health Care Stories
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