Comments on: why socialized medicine is wrong, wrong, wrong http://www.phauna.org/2007/10/07/why-socialized-medicine-is-wrong-wrong-wrong/ (* it's an ocaml comment *) Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:45:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: qxzn http://www.phauna.org/2007/10/07/why-socialized-medicine-is-wrong-wrong-wrong/comment-page-1/#comment-2054 qxzn Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:57:50 +0000 http://www.phauna.org/2007/10/07/why-socialized-medicine-is-wrong-wrong-wrong/#comment-2054 I've responded to this comment in <a href="http://www.phauna.org/2008/01/13/more-health-care/" rel="nofollow">this post</a>. I’ve responded to this comment in this post.

]]> By: FDR http://www.phauna.org/2007/10/07/why-socialized-medicine-is-wrong-wrong-wrong/comment-page-1/#comment-2049 FDR Thu, 03 Jan 2008 20:03:23 +0000 http://www.phauna.org/2007/10/07/why-socialized-medicine-is-wrong-wrong-wrong/#comment-2049 1. Preventative care (ie. staying in good health) is hugely important, but there's no reason it can't be part of socialized medicine. It certainly isn't part of our current system. As far as I know, European health care generally puts far more of an emphasis on staying healthy so you don't need expensive treatment. Which is probably why we pay twice as much per capita for health care. 2. No one doesn't want health care. Ask someone having heart attack or who's just been shot if they want to opt out of the system. 3. You already are paying for other people's health care. You pay when private insurance companies jack up their rates because unhealthy people are hurting their bottom line. You pay when the uninsured get treated at (far more expensive) emergency rooms in public hospitals. You pay when chronically ill co-workers are less productive and you have to pick up the slack. A system that covers everyone, and gives the people on the bottom a higher standard of care than they're getting now, cuts down on all of those costs. 4. Do people take care of themselves or not take care of themselves for financial reasons? I'm not sure that factors into too many people's thinkings. In fact, in my experience it's the other way around - I take care of myself better when I can afford to. As it is, two of my teeth are crumbling to pieces, and I've put off doing anything about it because I don't have insurance. And my teeth are crumbling to pieces because I couldn't afford regular cleanings because I didn't have insurance. If I'd had dental insurance all along, I would have done more preventative care (back to #1), and I wouldn't need the expensive, time-consuming extraction and crown I'm going to need in the next 6 months. 5. Oh come on. Health care is a necessity. It shouldn't exist on a gift-giving basis. We don't pave the roads or police our streets on a charity system, and no one complains that the Army is "stealing" your tax dollars in order to keep you safe. It's completely disingenuous to paint a rosy picture of a world of "giving and receiving" in which cash-strapped hospitals have to lay off essential personnel if some wealthy donor doesn't come through with a grant. And a system that everyone pays into and everyone receives benefits from isn't "stealing" or "welfare" any more than you're "stealing" interest from your bank account or getting "welfare" when your car insurance pays for a new fender. It's a completely disingenuous argument, which conservatives use to mask the real argument - why should a dime of my hard-inherited money go to some lousy crippled children? 1. Preventative care (ie. staying in good health) is hugely important, but there’s no reason it can’t be part of socialized medicine. It certainly isn’t part of our current system. As far as I know, European health care generally puts far more of an emphasis on staying healthy so you don’t need expensive treatment. Which is probably why we pay twice as much per capita for health care.

2. No one doesn’t want health care. Ask someone having heart attack or who’s just been shot if they want to opt out of the system.

3. You already are paying for other people’s health care. You pay when private insurance companies jack up their rates because unhealthy people are hurting their bottom line. You pay when the uninsured get treated at (far more expensive) emergency rooms in public hospitals. You pay when chronically ill co-workers are less productive and you have to pick up the slack. A system that covers everyone, and gives the people on the bottom a higher standard of care than they’re getting now, cuts down on all of those costs.

4. Do people take care of themselves or not take care of themselves for financial reasons? I’m not sure that factors into too many people’s thinkings. In fact, in my experience it’s the other way around - I take care of myself better when I can afford to. As it is, two of my teeth are crumbling to pieces, and I’ve put off doing anything about it because I don’t have insurance. And my teeth are crumbling to pieces because I couldn’t afford regular cleanings because I didn’t have insurance. If I’d had dental insurance all along, I would have done more preventative care (back to #1), and I wouldn’t need the expensive, time-consuming extraction and crown I’m going to need in the next 6 months.

5. Oh come on. Health care is a necessity. It shouldn’t exist on a gift-giving basis. We don’t pave the roads or police our streets on a charity system, and no one complains that the Army is “stealing” your tax dollars in order to keep you safe. It’s completely disingenuous to paint a rosy picture of a world of “giving and receiving” in which cash-strapped hospitals have to lay off essential personnel if some wealthy donor doesn’t come through with a grant. And a system that everyone pays into and everyone receives benefits from isn’t “stealing” or “welfare” any more than you’re “stealing” interest from your bank account or getting “welfare” when your car insurance pays for a new fender. It’s a completely disingenuous argument, which conservatives use to mask the real argument - why should a dime of my hard-inherited money go to some lousy crippled children?

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