Practicality and Ethics (Part 2-Health Care)

Health care has been a hot topic in the news for a long time now. What we have is an almost 2000 page bill that no one in the world could possibly comprehend in its entirety. I don't know what they were thinking when they put that together and passed it, but it needs to be scrapped and something simpler put in place. But what should be done in place of it?

2. Government Health Care
A. Ethics (Pros)- There are needs and there are wants in this life. Everyone can agree that health care is a need. The government and the more fortunate people have a duty to those less fortunate than themselves. Poor people need to be provided for. We have the means as a country to make sure everyone has their health taken care of.
B. Ethics (Cons)- Entitlement is ugly. Once someone believes they deserve something and that they are owed something then they have no desire to earn it or work for it. They'll get very angry if they aren't given exactly what they want when and how they want it. This creates a large body of lazy individuals just waiting for someone else to take care of them. Instead of helping people to get out of the rut they're in, the current system encourages and even rewards irresponsibility and laziness. These people have no gratitude for what they're receiving at the expense of others.
C. Practicality (Pros)- Our country doesn't need a bunch of sick people. Also, it looks bad when our lower classes aren't provided for. It ruins our image. Not to mention the lower classes make up a huge voting block. Take care of them and they'll take care of you.
D. Practicality (Cons)- I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but our country is broke. Government medical programs are one of the main reasons our country is in the red. Another one was addressed in the last post talking about our extravagant military spending with these endless wars. These individuals are sucking the coffers dry. Quite often they don't make any attempt to take care of themselves and then they need even more medical attention, but why should they care? It's free! Most of this lazy group of freeloaders is making no attempt whatsoever to change their situation. They're quite comfortable living off the government.

My personal opinions on health care are quite strong. I think any sort of entitlement program is a mistake. If you insist on having programs like Medicaid then they should take care of college students who are going to actually contribute back to society and get off Medicaid. And these programs should never ever cover anything non essential. The government should not pay for birth control. There's a free form of birth control called abstinence. There's another very cheap form of birth control called condoms. The government shouldn't be responsible for your poor choices.

A government option is also a mistake. Millions of Americans pay for their own health insurance. Why should they have to pay for everyone else's insurance too? It's not a "free government option". It's a tax paid government option. Also, no insurance should have to pay for something you did to yourself. You're 300 pounds and now you have diabetes? Well boo hoo, pay for it yourself. I can't tell you how many times diabetics came into the doctor's office while I worked there bringing in their huge 72 oz soda from the gas station and then laughing when we point out what they're doing like it's a big joke. We don't find it funny. But you don't care because your insurance is paid for by the government.

These programs have taken responsibility out of the hands of the individual. The only people who deserve aid are those who are actively trying to better themselves so they can become productive members of society. Insurance should handle emergencies and impossible to predict circumstances. I have a friend who has a child with undiagnosed special needs. That child should be covered by insurance and taken care of. It's not the mom's fault or the child's fault. It could not have been prevented or predicted. It just happened. But any disease or problem caused by your own decisions should not be covered by insurance.

The government should get its nose out of health care altogether. Let the private sector do what it does best. The beauty of a free market system is that someone will offer what people want because then they get business. Insurance can be great and so can health care. Private businesses can't compete with the government because the government doesn't play fair. And the government cheats. Look at everything the government has a hand in. You'll find inefficiency and bloated beauracracy everywhere you look. If private businesses ran things the way the government runs things they would all go out of business. That's just one of the reasons the government shouldn't be in this.