This explains why I think the federal government shouldn't be in the business of mandating or managing health care plans.
Before I get in on this, I want one thought running around in your head while you read this: "Why must everything come from the government?"
In the Constitution of the United States, the first ten Amendments were adopted all at the same time and are known collectively as the “Bill of Rights.” In the time between then and now, the definition has been stretched by Liberals to include things like health care.
Let’s take a look at the Bill of Rights.
The First Amendment spells out that speech, be it in the press, standing on a street corner or Citizens peaceably assembling to complain about something the government is or is not doing, are protected against limitation imposed by the government.
The Second Amendment states that the government shall not impose restrictions on the People who desire to bear arms.
The Third Amendment prohibits the government from forcing Citizens from having to house soldiers.
The Fourth Amendment prohibits the government from going through a person’s home, documents or any manner of private business without being able to articulate a probable cause that the person has committed a crime.
The Fifth Amendment prohibits the government from (among other things) trying a person twice for the same crime, or forcing a Citizen to provide evidence that can be used to convict them of a crime, or to take their property without just compensation.
The Sixth Amendment prohibits the government from dragging its feet in prosecuting a person for a crime, secret prosecutions and preventing the accused from facing their accusers.
I could go on, but I think you see the point now. The Constitution and Bill of Rights do not grant the Citizen these things. A free person has these Rights naturally, given to them by their Creator, be He (or Her) Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, Gaia or the Deity of your choice. If you don't believe in a Deity, you can attribute these rights to the Universe. The Constitution and Bill of Rights restricts the government and its agents from preventing the Citizen from enjoying these freedoms.
Now we get to the significant part.
What is “Health Care?” Essentially, it is a person who has acquired knowledge on how to maintain or repair the human body and offers their services based on that knowledge. There are multiple levels in this system. There are Doctors, Physicians Assistants, Nurses, Paramedics, and all kinds of technicians. It goes all the way from Paramedics spending a couple of weeks learning their profession, to Doctors spending about ten years and over $120,000 to earn that license.
With Free Speech, all you have to do is open your mouth. To defend yourself, a hand-wielded blunt instrument found nearby can do in a pinch.
This is an important question:
Where does the authority originate that gives a government the power to force a Citizen (a doctor) to make use of the knowledge and resources they have to provide a service that they will not be adequately compensated for?
A Doctor is a small businessperson. He rents offices, hires staff, purchases diagnostic equipment and so on to provide the service he offers. The Doctor also has to pay himself through the profits of the business. He does this to live and pay his daily expenses. If it costs him $100 to diagnose and treat a person, why do you insist he only be paid $80 for what cost him $100?
That’s what it really boils down to. That’s the essential reason why it’s not a right.
Let's say for a moment that the Doctor receives a net profit of $25 per $100 service rendered. He receives his income from that $25. If the government only pays $80, he now makes only $5. Considering that's a cut in his profits of 80%, if the Doctor wants to receive the same amount of income, he has to see more patients, thus reducing the quality of care to each patient. Does that sound like a good thing to you? There are a bunch of Doctors who are refusing to accept patients using the ACA Insurance.
If you become ill or hurt and don’t have what the doctor expects to be paid, why should the doctor expend his skills and equipment to treat you?
Liberals (if they are still reading this) are thinking to themselves, “He’s just a cruel Conservative.”
I am not against health care. I am against health care regulated, controlled, portioned out and so on by the government rather than the free market.
Look at the 90 people who perished horribly in Oso, Washington in 2014. They died horribly, drowned and buried alive in a river of mud. How about the 239 people on Malaysian Airlines Flight 370? Suffocating in an unpressurized aircraft when it climbed over 37,000 feet. How about the 460,000 children under five years old who died from malaria in 2012? Those children alone are the equivalent of six fully loaded 747 airliners crashing every day. EVERY FUCKING DAY.
People will die every day. It doesn’t matter if the reason is murder, injury, sickness, age or genetic defect, we will all eventually die and all the medical knowledge and technology will not be able to prevent it. Postpone, delay, defer, but not prevent.
Do I want those people to die? NO. Is it within my power to change any of those facts? NO. Would I change those things if I could? YES. No one should die of anything except old age, in their bed quietly, surrounded by friends and family. The realities of life will never allow that to happen.
What can we do to improve this situation? First, you can stop trying to force paying Doctors the same pay rate of a plumber. If you pay Doctors and plumbers the same, Doctors will become plumbers because plumbers don't deal with life-and-death decisions every day.
We are already facing a shortage of Doctors. Less young people are entering Medical School, and those that do are becoming specialists instead of General Practice Doctors. Add in the crippling debt they have when they get their diploma and the fact that the ACA will be introducing millions more into an already overcrowded health care system, you will stretch doctors and the medical profession to the breaking point.
And if there are no Doctors, where will you get that “right?”