The Business of Healthcare

If you are reading this blog site you are probably thinking the exact same thing, I’ve had enough of these faking people equating health care reform with the complete destruction of the US!  Guess what?  The US is already in shambles!  The only thing that health-care reform aims to do is improve the quality of life for everyone in the nation.  Though, if you want to keep paying your high insurance premiums and risk the chance of being dropped as soon as you get an illness that will actually cost money to be cured, then have fun!  Let’s make health-care optional for those idiots.

Here is a list of some arguments against universal health care, well, if you can even call them arguments.

Most popular arguments used by gun-toting, b*tch-slapping, right-wing jackoffs:
1. Universal health care will be funded using my tax dollars!  I don’t want to pay more in taxes!
2. Universal health care means that there will be less innovation in medicine and less motivation for doctors and therefore people will die (and sooner).
3. The government will have a monopoly over health insurance.
4. My tax dollars will fund abortions.
5. The government will decide when my grandparents will die via government run death panels. "If Obama-Care is passed, the same insidious protocols - "Advance Care Planning" - will be set into place to cut the cost of his massive government health care program. Our senior citizens will receive mandated appointments for counseling that will determine if they receive minimal medical treatment or are told to go home and die". –Marie Jon of Right Side News
6.    Universal health care will cover illegal immigrants.

You must forgive me as I probably made them sound halfway coherent.  However, I wanted to be able to present my counter argument against something rather than random babbling with the words “god” and “proud to be an American” thrown in between.

Counter-arguments (numbers coincide with above points):
1. Yes, health care will be funded by your tax dollars.  You are making an investment in yourself jackass!  When you get older and you actually need to lean on the health care system there will be younger people in the working sector that will be funding your numerous hospital and doctor visits.  It is called helping the community, you give today and “they” give tomorrow.  It is very basic and ensures a higher quality of life for all involved!  According to the 2007 US Census 45.7 million US citizens were living without healthcare.  This is inexcusable when we are spending billions of dollars every year to kill foreigners (I have a whole different beef with the war, that can be left for another article)!

2. First of all, the US is the only industrialized nation without universal healthcare.  Do you really think none of the other industrialized nations have sufficient and innovative health care??  Hong Kong performed the very first liver transplant and, you guessed it, they have universal health care!  In terms of the whole population dying away as soon as we get universal health care, give me a faking break!  The US is currently ranked, by the UN Life Expectancy ratings, at #38 for the highest life expectancy.  Of the 37 nations ranked above (Japan being the highest rated), how many do you think have universal health care?  From my research online, I could find out easily that at least 32 of those nations have universal health care.  So I think it is safe to say that the life expectancy might even increase if everyone is given access to medical treatment, novel concept!

3. The government will NOT have a “monopoly” over healthcare!  The private health insurance companies will still exist and this is clearly stated in the reform bill.  The public healthcare system is meant to help to “compete” as well as supplement private insurers so that healthcare can remain affordable for all citizens.  So don’t get your panties all in a bunch, you can keep your precious Blue Cross and Blue Shield coverage if you already have it, they aren’t forcing you to give up your current plan!

4. It is true that the bill allows for the public healthcare to allow for coverage of complete “reproductive health”.  Under the current bill, public healthcare money could be for abortions but it is possible that it could be reformed and they add in legislation explicitly forbidding abortion as part of the publicly funded reproductive health services.  The real answer lies in the debate regarding abortion; being a pro-choice advocate, I do not see any issue in having tax dollars fund abortion.  If you look at other countries with public health care funded abortions, they aren’t running around like sex-starved maniacs getting pregnant and having abortions for fun.  (This is a longer debate so we can give this a “to be continued”… and I will cover it in another article.)

5. This idiotic notion is just laughable, come on guys, do you just regurgitate anything on right wing radio??  Do some faking background checking!  What actually happens is that there are services for elderly people to receive end-of-life counseling IF they want it (not mandatory) AND it is for creation of living will, etc.  It is not about denying treatment to Grampy Sam who needs a new pacemaker.  Are you faking kidding me?!  

6. This is just plain false, no further ranting on this one.  If you do one Google search about this claim you can find endless documentation that illegal immigrants would not be covered under the public healthcare plan.

Another thing that the conservative billy-bobs seem to overlook is that privatized health-care is based on a capitalist motive!  If you look at who is really making money out of the deal it is the pharmaceutical companies and the insurance companies.  These corporations have the same basic motive, keep you well enough so you don’t die.  Why cure you if they can keep charging you big bucks for all those meds and doctor’s visits?  Do you think your doctor is on your side?  Think again because those pharmaceutical companies are pushing drugs on to your doctor and he gets a little (or sometimes big) reward if he passes them on to you (if you need proof you can look up any of the criminal charges brought on Pfizer due to this very reason).  Of course, there are doctors out there that are actually true to their oath and take the best care of the patients and assign the correct medications for treatment but there are many motivated by the “green”.  So what if they prescribe you a pill that isn’t necessary but doesn’t hurt you?  Well, it certainly doesn’t hurt their wallet and that is what matters, right?!

Finally, for those of you that want a brief rundown of what the bill actually offers, here is a quick summation (referenced directly from the President’s official website).
1. Lower health-care costs for all citizens.
2. Deliver quality care to all patients.
3. Lower prescription drug costs.
4. Make health-care accessible to all citizens, guarantee coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions, and give health-care to all children.
5. Strengthen health-care plans via more robust offerings by employers and school systems.

Each point is well outlined in the plan and information is given on how each point will be addressed and implemented.  These are not just empty promises; they can be realized via the reform bill!

If you are on the opposite side of the health-care reform debate, I urge you to take a second look at why you are so vehemently opposed to universal health care.  I don’t want to hear an argument that Rush Limbaugh or Fox news told you and then you repeated blindly, think for yourself and do a little research for fak’s sake!  Then come back to me with some legitimate reasons or shut the fak up!