30 August 2009

Socialized Health Care Creates The Poor

How many times have you heard, "we're the richest nation in the world and we still don't have universal health care"? And those who say it as an accusation apparently lack the logical aptitude to understand the connections in what they're saying. Folks, there is one reason that the United States of America is the wealthiest nation on the planet and it's called CAPITALISM.

Yes, France, Germany and Britain have socialized medicine, along with a few additional socialized scourges, and they also have an average family living space that rivals the size of an American closet and unemployment queues that are longer than the restroom lines at a bulimia convention.

There is no such thing as free health care. I lived in Germany and saw a huge chunk of my paycheck flow to the government health care plan while what was left paid for a small one-bedroom apartment filled with a pressed wood forest of cheap furniture. Expect the same to happen here. And rest assured that a socialized health care plan will need to cover the poor because there will be a helluva lot more of them. Unemployment will rise as businesses struggle to meet the tax burden while paychecks will shrink for the same reason.

The beauty of capitalism is that it's built for success without parameters. Regardless of your current social status, economic situation, gender or life choices, if you produce a good or service that somebody wants you can be successful. No other economic model offers such inclusive opportunity. These attributes should be applied to the health care debate as well.

First, consider those who provide health care services. Ever wonder why so many medical advance come out of America? It's because the U.S. health care industry is striving for profit and to be profitable you must produce something that people want. If a competitor develops a better, more cost effective treatment then you'd better make a breakthrough or you'll soon be stirring beans at the local Taco Bell. And where all of that much ballyhooed government research kick in? Those government research labs are responsible for only 5% or so of the treatments currently on the market. But I'm sure sticking a fork in the private sector will do wonders for our health care industry (that's sarcasm, in case you missed it).

Now let's look at the other key ingredient, the uninsured poor. Barack Obama loves to claim that there are 47 million uninsured in this country, but that is simply not the case (even though it would still only figure to some 13% of the population). But the truth about the uninsured looks more like this:

Analysis of data from earlier Census Bureau and other government reports shows that roughly 7 million are illegal immigrants; roughly 9 million are persons on Medicaid; 3.5 million are persons already eligible for government health programs; and approximately 20 million have, or live, in families with incomes greater than twice the federal poverty level, or $41,300 for a family of four.
So what does the real math look like for the uninsured?

47, 000, 000.00 - 7,000,000.00 (illegal immigrants) = 40,000,000.00

40,000,000.00 -9,000,000.00 (on medicaid) = 31,000,000.00

31,000,000.00 - 3,500,000.00 (eligible for medicaid but not enrolled) = 27,500,000.00

27,500,000.00 - 20,000,000.00 (choose not to be insured) 7,500,000.00

That's right 7,500,000 (or 2% of the population) are chronically uninsured. So here's a crazy idea: rather than destroy our current system while adding taxes that will increase unemployment and decrease income for the sake of 2% of the population, why not devise a system to cover that 2%?

So why does the President skew the numbers to push his radical health care agenda rather than look at ways to tweak a system that 84% of Americans do not consider to be a problem? Look deep in your heart, you know the answer. Obamacare is not about health care. Obamacare is not about the poor. Obamacare is about power. Obamacare is about seizing control. Obamacare is about another devastating attack on the private sector in order to shift more authority to the ruling elite in Washington D.C.

2 comments :

  1. Nikki said...

    Great write up Khaki...why would anyone carry private insurance if the government is offering a cheaper version? Driving down the high cost of insurance may seem good on the surface but let's talk jobs like you mentioned. The economic ramifications are what are scaring the crap out of me. The industry is already suffering by the very thought of governmental intervention. :)N

  2. Z said...

    Amen, Khaki...and I THINK America's waking up to it..
    super post..