Jeff Jared, in his recent letter “Say no to Obama-care” completely misrepresents the entire healthcare debate and why a public option is necessary. In his first paragraph he describes the current attempt by the Obama administration to overhaul healthcare as “socialist-inspired”. This label of socialism is now the favorite buzzword of conservatives who are using it in an attempt to elicit an emotionally negative response from the general public, hoping to torpedo reform. Having the government involved in healthcare does not make it socialism and there has never been any suggestion in the recent debate to institute a socialized medicine system. Socialized medicine is where the government is the sole provider of all healthcare delivery, including ownership of all hospitals and clinics, and where all care providers such as doctors and nurses are government employees. A universal, or single payer, system simply provides a non-profit public option when it comes to handling the money for basic services. The vast majority of services would still be provided, as they are now, by private industry.
In my view, having the government, which answers directly to the people, administer healthcare payments is far preferable to having private insurance companies do it who answer only to their shareholders. Our government is already involved in health insurance through Medicare, the VA and the congressional system and these programs are well run and effective. They also have an extremely low overhead of about 3% compared to the 20% plus for private insurance companies. Insurance companies after all have to support lobbyists, pay large amounts for advertising and pay obscene bonuses to their CEO’s and other executives. If you look at other developed countries that have government supported healthcare, such as Canada and most of the European Union, you would see that they all provide better care for less money than our current broken system. What more proof is necessary?
Some may argue that government is, by its very nature, inefficient and worry about bringing that factor into the healthcare equation. This inefficiency is real to a certain extent but insurance companies are also bloated and inefficient. I think it’s also true that people are, by their very nature, greedy. Why would you expect an insurance company to operate in your best interest if it was going to affect their bottom line?
Jeff Jared also tries to support his position by making some pretty outlandish fantasy comparisons to grocery insurance and government run restaurants. Apparently he believes that providing healthcare to our citizens is somehow comparable to forcing all private restaurants out of business by undercutting them with a government run chain. I don’t believe providing healthcare for American citizens and restaurant management even belong in the same conversation. I believe in a country as great as the United States of America that everyone should have the right to see a doctor if they’re sick or injured.
Our current, private, system excludes fifty million Americans. It also finds ways to drop coverage for people with chronic illnesses (negative impact on the bottom line) and won’t cover many preexisting conditions. Costs are spiraling out of control and this is the system that Jeff Jared wants to keep? Healthcare should not be a privilege or a luxury, it should be a right like voting or the right to an education which he also doesn’t feel should be provided by the public.
The reason we have public education is the same reason we need public healthcare, to make it available to everyone. Without a public education system only the children of families that could afford it would get to go to school. This would ultimately result in a permanent peasant class because the children of the poor would never be able to rise above their lack of education and be able to afford to educate their own children. I don’t know of too many Americans who think that would be a good idea. Why is healthcare any different? Shouldn’t everyone have equal access?
It appears that Jeff Jared comes by his position as a result of his libertarian belief system and that he thinks that less government is always better. As for me, I don’t want to see private industry run elections or the military and I believe the government is best equipped to be the primary provider of education and health insurance. President Obama, you’re right on with this.
Larry Knapp, Kirkland
