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No, we should not adopt a universal health care system. Why, because I am an American citizen already living with socialized medicine and I can tell you that it does not work. Imagine doctors who are going to get paid no matter how they treat you and nurses fed up with people bitching about the time they had to wait to see a doctor. Now factor in the government red tape just to see if you qualify and you will soon decide it might have been better to create something new. How do I know what socialized medicine is like? I am being given free medical care right now and have been my entire life. I and two million other Native Americans had that right paid for by our ancestors who signed treaties stating the government would provide free health care. Remember the old adage, you get what you pay for, Indians didn't even get that much. Considering the vast tracts of land we gave up and how many millions it would be worth now you might think we would deserve something better, but sadly no.

If you think only Indians are subject to poor medical care think again. There is another segment of American society who suffers just as cruelly under government sponsored health care. The military also has doctors who are putting in their time paying off school loans. While I was in the Navy I noticed the similarity between the Naval hospital I visited for a physical and the Indian Health Service Hospital in my hometown. If you force doctors to serve without regard for their financial aspirations would you expect them to do a good job?
If you were to ask me if I thought the government owed its citizens at least the most basic health care I would say yes. Actually with Medicare I think we as a nation already do this. We do no do it well but it is enough for the rich to say that a sick person in the U.S. can get help. I believe my taxes also go to paying for this broken system. So instead of saying lets do what Europe does or what Canada does, lets figure out how to do it better. Obviously the rich can afford the best care available but the middle class will need help with the expenses of major illnesses and the poor will need help with everything. We need to create a voucher system where Americans can save up their medical credits from year to year to use during an emergency or the poor can use them for preventive medicine like check ups and nutritional classes. This is something we don't do on the Reservation. We don't practice prevention because getting an eye appointment can take upwards of three years and dental appointments are only for those who cannot stand the pain anymore and wish to have the tooth pulled. Is this what we as the richest nation in the world want? Want to know why the rich are fighting against universal health care? The insurance companies would lose and the huge pharmaceutical companies would lose. Remember the rich will not stand in line to see overworked doctors, only the middle class and the poor will. The rich are afraid they will pay for it with higher taxes and less profit on their drug dividends. Where does Congress stand? They have their own socialized health care. Do you think our system will be as good as theirs? Hell no. Ours will be the care we get now on Indian and military reservations across the country. Come up with a new system or leave it alone.

Learn more about this author, Donald Barcus.
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