I wish I had a $400 pair of jeans- not really

I dont think health care is a basic human right, and it irritates me when people say it is. I'm not saying that access to health care isnt important, or even that a safety net shouldnt be put in place, all i am saying is that being born in the United States does not entitle you to a lifetime of “free” health care. Maybe I think this way because we recently got information about the health insurance offered through Brian’s job. I need to preface by saying one of the reasons that I like this particular company is because of the health insurance they offer- sure there are other great things, including that Brian likes the job, but the health insurance is the most appealing thing to me. The health insurance is not free, sure the company subsidizes it but trust me we will still have to pay quite a bit for our health coverage. As we work out our budget for the fall the cost of health insurance is one of the first things worked into the budget, right after tithing, savings, and the house payment- paying for health insurance is just one of the things we have accepted. I am sure there are going to be days that I wish we didn’t have to pay since there are tons of things I could do with that money, but in the end I think putting in towards insurance is the best option. Paying for insurance is something that Brian and I have chosen to do, if September comes and we decide not to get health coverage that is our choice- we can choose to do something else with that money. I am grateful that we have that choice, I am grateful that someone didn’t take my money and put it towards what they thought was best- it’s my money, you didn’t earn it, you don’t get to spend it.  Paying for insurance is going to be a sacrifice, there will be some things we don’t buy, or don’t buy for awhile because we are paing for insurance. Despite paying monthly for health care we will also hae to pay a co pay to visit the doctor and for prescription drugs- all of these things have to make it into the budget, and will have to be taken into consideration when seeking medical attention (granted the co pay is very small so I doubt that will stop us from going to the doctor). Despite the fact that we will  have to plan ahead and weigh our options before seeking health care I prefer this system over congress’ proposed changes. I am interested to know how the paradigm works when you don’t have to pay for health insurance. I’m sure many people, including some readers, may think my perspective is just conservative propaganda, and that I have little to no information about the problem, or the first hand experience of those in these situations- tough luck Charlie- I have this one covered, I’ve done both the quantitative and the qualitative research, collected primary and secondary data, and have come to the following conclusions.

1.   When something is “free” people tend to think it is lower quality. This same principle applies to health care. People tend to question why it is free, and choose not to use it, believing that the quality is not comparable to costly options (which to be fair is often the case true). So it looks like we are going to require people to enroll in health insurance that they either don’t want, or don’t think will be helpful, and people will continue to go untreated.

2.   Adding everyone to the system will put additional strain on an already over taxed system.  Yesterday I read a report about the implementation of universal health care (straight single payer system), the liberal policy group that published the report clearly stated that the supply of medical professionals will be unable to keep up with demand for service for several years leaving many people without necessary treatment or a primary care physician until the medical profession grows. Is the medical profession going to grow over night? I am going to guess no, why? We want qualified physicians, as a result they go to school for longer than 2 days, in order to make it through the rigor of med. School candidate need at least 2 brain cells and people like that aren’t a dime a dozen, and last time I checked med school wasn’t free or easy- so all of those things combined, I am guessing we are going to have shortages for a bit.

3.   Misallocation of funds- this isn’t a reference to the government, although I am quite sure they will not use the funds available as efficiently as they claim they will, this is a reference to the people currently receiving free or low cost health care. Let me start by saying that New York is a progressive state- they have basically universal child health care, and have extended adult Medicaid further than the federally mandated levels using state only dollars. The goal is to provide all New Yorkers with access to health care- the goal is noble but the execution is lacking. Part of the goal was the alleviate some of the financial strain that paying for health insurance would cause, in some cases this has happened, in other cases people have purchased other things with that money, including designer bags, cars, cell phones, all things that were not necessities. Every day I get on the train and wonder how someone making $12 and hour on Medicaid, food stamps, and public assistance has $400 jeans, a $1000 bag, and the newest cell phone- then I think again and realize that the reason that they have all those fun things is because they don’t have to spend money on boring things like food, rent, and health insurance. With all of this financial freedom people have the option to buy things they don’t need, they come to expect a fun cushy life, and they stop seeing the value of work- when your $12 an hour job gets you the same things someone’s $25 and hour job gets them why work harder?

So there are a few dozen more reasons why I am against the proposed health care reform options but I think I have rambled on long enough- two things to take from this 1. I agree the system is broken, 2. Health care is not a human right*

 

*I am torn about what to do about children. I do think that we need to have some system to insure children, preventive medicine in childhood can prevent costly health problems later in life and lead to reductions in health care costs, I am just not sure how to help kids without enabling others.