One of the rallying cries I hear all the time from those against Universal Health care is that the founding fathers would never have signed on for Universal Healthcare, as they all believed in limited government. That sounds great, and I'm sure it arouses a few applause lines here and there. And it sounds like it might be true, that they would have found Universal Healthcare as an intrusion from the Federal Government. However, it's not exactly factual.
In 1731, Ben Franklin became a Freemason. Now, Freemasonry has a long, complicated history, but that's a topic for another time. In 1734, upon becoming Grand Master, Franklin decided to put his clout to good use. Around 1736-37 or thereabout, Ben Franklin wrote a letter to Colonial Governor John Penn, in which Franklin, inspired by the Masonry ethic of helping others, authored what one could consider the blue print to Universal Healthcare. In the letter, Franklin expressed the importance of removing the barrier of a doctor's bill. Franklin rightly pointed out that relieving such burdens could prevent plagues, it would boost the economy of the commonwealth. Franklin reasoned that a colonist would spend more freely if they knew that health issues would not be a heavy burden.
Franklin may have been talking about the average colonist, but he could very well have been speaking about their 21st century counterpart. We hear the horror stories and sad tales all the time. A person with medical issues and they can no longer work, so they are forced to accept a government health care plan that may not exactly offer everything they'd had before. There are those that know they are in serious need of medical care, but they understand if they get the treatment they require, they'd face crippling medical bills that they know they have slim chances of paying off. worst case, those bills end up being sent to collection agencies. Then the individuals' credit score takes a hit, and all of a sudden, they don't qualify for certain loans, and are unable to purchase a new car or buy a home. Their fiscal troubles begin to get out of control, like a boulder racing down a hill. There's no way to stop it, and when it comes to a head, it's going to end in destruction.
One of the most laughable arguments against Universal Healthcare is that there'd end up being government death panels, a select few that decides who lives and who dies. Now, organ transplant committees are charged with that grim task. With so few vital organs available, and the U.S. lagging behind every single industrialized nation in the world, these members have to decide if a person is worth giving one of these organs. And depending on your age, medical history, likelihood of survival, you don't have good odds of receiving a donation. One can argue that those are a death panel, though given the weight of their task, it would not under any circumstances call them a death panel.
In reality, we already have death panels. They are called insurance companies. These businesses, looking at their bottom line, review if it is or is not cost effective to allow you to have the surgery or treatment that could save your life. I'm sure a google search will provide you with enough horror stories to fill a lifetime. You could be one of the lucky few that gets their treatment approved. Of course, this could come after multiple appeals by which your medical condition could worsen and by the time they are actually approved for treatment. Perhaps no film has summed up the chaos of a for profit health care system than the medical drama Article 99. That film deals with the bureaucracy of the insurance industry in an army hospital, but you could easily transfer any of those stories to what an average person has to endure.
That's exactly what Americans have to accept. We have a for profit health care system, and if it's more profitable for a company to simply let you die, than that's what they are going to do. We are one of the wealthiest industrialized nations in the world, yet we live in a state where people turn to crowd sourcing sites like Go Fund Me in order to pay medical bills. All of the money that people pour into their coverage, only to be told you're on your own. I cannot think of anything that would be crueler.
Another scare tactic that is used is that Universal Health care would be the first step to communism. There are plenty of countries, many based in Europe, and there is even Canada that has Universal Healthcare. And I've researched it, and I just cannot find a simple bit of evidence that Canada has fallen to Communism. The reason of course elected officials use that scare tactic is that thanks to the Citizens United case, an Insurance company can simply "donate" millions and essentially purchase a Senator or Congressperson to act as their spokesperson.
We often wonder why other countries have longer life expectancy. We wonder why others aren't drowning in medical bills. Granted, they may pay more in taxes, but that will be greatly off-set by what you'd save in medical bills. I'm sure of this because that system has worked in every single country in which it has been tried. It hasn't been tried here because Insurance companies have unchecked power.
So, we're just going to continue to watch loved ones died needlessly. We're going to be stuck watching people suffer, or watching them have to get on their knees and beg perfect strangers for donations. Some call Go Fund Me as bringing out the best in people. I say Go Fund me has taken on a role it was never intended to take. It has become a life source. If anything. the need to rely on Go Fund Me to take care of medical bills sums up perfectly how screwed up our health care system truly has become.
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