a Little Light

Is health care a right, or a privilege? That’s a major discussion going on right now, due to President Obama’s push for national health care.

In my opinion, there should be no discussion. Health care provided by the government should be accessible to its citizens just as much as safety, defense and education currently are. The government currently foots the bill for the police, military and grade school teachers, respectively, and it should do so for health related programs. So why isn’t health care provided nationally? For the same reason every other innovative program or idea gets stifled – those with wealth and power as a result of the status quo intend to keep it that way.

The insurance industry is a lucrative field. People often forget that insurance companies and third party warranty programs are designed to make a profit. If the company actually benefited you, it wouldn’t exist! With insurance, you pay a premium. Then the company has an agreement with you to provide you coverage should you get sick or get injured. That’s all fine and dandy, but on average, a typical individual spends more on their premium than they do on whatever routine health care they receive. Only when we undergo freak accidents, like I did with my teeth, do we find ourselves wishing that we had insurance coverage. But insurance providers are profit companies; they need to stay in the black. Therefore, they will do their best to provide the least amount of coverage for the most amount of premium while staying competitive within the market rates. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why those with wealth due to the status quo intend to spend millions on advertising and propaganda to ensure that it stays that way.

Even the wealthy not tied to the insurance industry prefer to keep the way things are. The wealthy enjoy the luxury of being able to pay off their personal medical bills. But if the government were to sponsor a national health care plan, not only would the wealthy continue to pay their own health care, but their taxes would increase because someone would have to foot the bill for the lower income on health care. In fact, they would argue that the poor are more likely to get sick, because they cannot afford to eat healthy (like purchase organic foods), exercise regularly (gym membership and clubs) and carryout a positive lifestyle (the poor are often overworked and have poor work environments) – so why should they have to foot the bill for this new health care plan that mostly the poor will take advantage of? It’s an understandable, but incredibly selfish mindset possessed by the rich, and since they have the money and influence to shape public opinion, it will be difficult for health care reform to pass.

Who else doesn’t want government sponsored health care? The medical field employees. If government sponsored health care were to pass, the pay for nurses and pharmacists would undoubtedly fall from the astronomical salaries they are currently at. The government is notorious for providing low pay for its employees. Government workers – in the past at least – enjoy great benefits, high job security and a relaxed work environment. But they don’t get a high pay rate. Current medical employees are in a dream situation. They have high job security from third party insurance companies, and they have lucrative salaries. Government intervention would likely hurt their current situation, so you can be sure that they will protect themselves by not exactly jumping aboard with President Obama’s plan.

But here are the facts: the United States remains one of the only industrialized nations in the world without a national health care program. Critics of President Obama’s plan are primarily republicans, which is most ironic because they also oppose abortion. You get it? Republicans want every fetus born, but once you’re in the world, you have to fend for yourself! This is absolutely ridiculous and hypocritical! Health care is expensive, no doubt about it. That’s why we need a program accessible to every American to assist them in their right to live. That’s why we need change. That’s why we need to support President Obama’s initiative on health care reform.