Specialized care: Does it really improve care and reduce cost?

No

1 of 1

by Thomas Yoo

Write now Print Invite a writer™ Add to Favorites RSS Feed Contact this writer

I am a left, moderate, social authoritarian, according to the political spectrum. Although I would usually follow the Democrats on many of their political views, on the issue of healthcare I would have to support the Republican side of the debate. From what I have read and spoke about, the Democratic healthcare agenda is to basically nationalize healthcare, which in the end, becomes a burden on our taxes. Perhaps I am biased because my parents share the same views with me (or I share the same views with them) and we have our own health insurance, but I feel that it is not right.

Let's consider Obama's new healthcare agenda. Basically, everyone in the country, as long as they are not an illegal immigrant, will be entitled to our national healthcare. While we wouldn't directly pay for it as we do for health insurance today, we would pay for it through our taxes, which would equal to a couple thousand more dollars on our bottom line. I feel that those who already have a private health insurance provider should not have to pay this, or, like the idea of the school voucher, have that instead. Perhaps the government could glob all sectors into one pool and have your taxes pay for any insurance you choose to use.

Maybe the problem that our nation is facing in the health insurance and healthcare sector isn't the insurance itself, but the price of medicine, procedures, and doctors in general. When one goes to the hospital, if you have insurance, doctors try and milk every cent that they can out of you. Not to mention that unless a pill you are prescribed is generic, it is very expensive to get medicine from a pharmacist, and sometimes insurance doesn't even cover that.

Another problem with our system could be just that, the system itself. What kind of a world do we live in when we cannot even afford to get surgery or any form of treatment when we are in need, and those who can help us afford to get it won't help us out? Insurance providers don't always cover you because they feel that it's a bad investment. To them, you are just another bottom line. If the government regulated this and even paid some of the losses that the companies were facing, then we would live in a better world.

Basically, what I have a problem with is that those that prefer to have privatized healthcare will have to pay more than those who cannot afford or are indifferent. That should be up to the person, without any monetary penalty. I also dislike the fact that we cannot achieve any sort of middle ground between the Democratic and Republican agendas. I honestly think that the best way of handling this situation would be to have government funding go into lowering prices of medicine and treatments like surgery. That would benefit everyone those with or without private health insurance.

All in all, the biggest problem towards our health care system isn't the fact that everyone doesn't have access to health insurance or cannot afford it, it is ultimately the indecisiveness of the people in charge that is the problem. They should make a plan that would make everyone happy, and one that is easy to implement. Like the healthcare vouchers or the insurance pool, a compromise would be the best solution in this case. A straight-up Socialist approach like the one being proposed is not a good solution.

Learn more about this author, Thomas Yoo.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.