By Staff
I'm watching the debate about national health care very carefully. I've
been the beneficiary of government health care since 1969 when I joined the Army. My guess is that government provided health care will be similar to the military medical care my family and I received while I was on active duty. First the good news, it was much cheaper for us than most health care plans. Now the bad news, EVERY visit for health care was similar to visiting the emergency room: a new doctor almost every time, long waits before getting medical care, routine illnesses did not necessarily warrant face-to-face attention from a medical doctor (sometimes a physician assistant examined us), and referrals for a specialist depended on the availability of specialist care in the military medical system.
For some people, that may sound like an improvement over what they have now. I understand that. Let me offer four additional observations: first, when has the Federal government ever done something more efficiently than private enterprise?
Does the Post Office make a profit? Does Amtrak make a profit? Does the Federal government stay within a budget?
Do you want political pressure to affect how medical care is delivered?
Secondly, I would guess that if everybody had free health care, more people would visit a doctor for elective care or minor care. Who would argue with that? That's the whole point of moving health care for the uninsured from the emergency room to regular clinics.
My third observation is, if we add millions of people to a health care system but nobody increases the number of clinics or doctors, somebody tell me how the system won't become similar to Canada's or Britain's where health care is rationed. Instead of getting timely care to eliminate pain and suffering or even save lives, a government bureaucrat will decide who gets
treatment first and who waits.
Finally, the Congressional Budget Office provided a nonpartisan analysis that a PART of one of the proposals would cost one trillion over ten years. I've seen a dizzying explosion of public debt since last Fall. We should very soberly judge whether we can afford this new addition to our Federal deficit. The President wants to have legislation approved by the end of next month. I think we should take a little longer until we can judge the details including the very big detail of how much it will cost.
Niles