The Future of Health Care?

One (of the many) issues both candidates are hesitant to talk about in any detail is health care. There is a good reason for that; neither one of them have a decent plan for improving it. Health care continues to be one of America's biggest problems. Over the last 8 years health spending has skyrocketed to nearly 18% of the national GDP, insurance premiums have more than doubled, the number of uninsured people has increased, and businesses have struggled to keep up with the increasing prices. What's just as scary is that there's no good news from either candidate thus far about any of this improving anytime soon.

Canada is not the answer.

Before I get into both candidates' respective plans, I would like to talk about Canada's health care system for a minute. Many people, especially modern American hippies, love to praise Canada's socialist health care system. The fact is, it's no better than ours. What most people don't realize is that although everyone in Canada is covered by their state run, single-payer system, close to 70% of Canadians have additional private health care because the national plan doesn't afford them adequate coverage.

Also consider that the wait in Canada right now for elective surgery and treatment, on average, is just under 20 weeks. Let me be clear, elective surgery in Canada does not mean nose jobs and breast augmentations like it does in America. If you are in Canada and need a hernia operation, a torn ACL repaired, breast cancer radiation therapy, a fractured hip repaired, surgery on a torn rotator cuff, etc., you are looking at a 4-5 month waiting period. At least. If it's a hernia operation or torn ACL (or a variety of other ailments) you could be waiting as much as 3 years. Granted, these things are not emergencies, but I'll let you tell a woman with breast cancer that her radiation therapy is 'elective' and isn't a pressing matter.

Many Canadians come to the United States for a lot of their major health care needs. The Canadian system is great in that everyone gets some kind of coverage. However, that doesn't mean the coverage is good. Most of the best doctors remain private, so we are not looking at an equal quality of care across the board. Add to that they fact that taxes are higher to help support the plan. Basically, those with any kind of money will pay for health care one way or another, either through taxes or through a private insurance company.

I have much more to say about Canada and its health care system, but I will leave it at that for now.

Obama's Plan

The two main problems with Obama's plan are its subjectiveness and ambitiousness. His plan sounds great - in theory. First of all, I say his plan is subjective because it uses a lot of words like 'reasonable' and 'average' and 'generally accepted.' These are words to be cautious of in any situation regarding something you will be paying for, but it is especially important to look out for them in regard to health care. The vagueness of Obama's health care plan serves two purposes: 1) to make the plan sound good and sell you on it, and 2) to act as an insurance policy giving his administration wiggle room for setting exact terms later. What I find to be 'generally accepted' or 'reasonable' health care might be 'rarely accepted' and 'unreasonable' to Obama's administration, and I don't want to get caught in that trap.

The other main problem is his ambition. Health care for all, even the poor, is a great idea. Perhaps the best idea out there right now in terms of policy of any kind. However, it almost certainly can't work. It definitely cannot happen in Obama's 4 or potentially 8 years as president, and probably not even in the next 15 years. Even if it does, we will find ourselves with a welfare health care system. Those who can afford private health care will still have it, only they will be shouldering an extra tax burden to pay for those who can't, meaning the ones who can barely afford it now won't be able to then.

Also, good doctors will remain private to make the money they are making now, leaving those covered by the national plan with the leftovers. Not to say they would be bad, but they wouldn't be the best. Basically, as with anything, you get what you pay for. If you pay a minimum tax for health care, you will receive minimum service. I could go on forever about socialized health care, but that is all I will say for now.

McCain's Plan

His plan, like almost all of his plans, is to keep things the way they are now - with a twist or two. The first twist is that he has no plan for stopping inflation of prices or for protecting those who are being taken advantage of right now. The other twist is that he plans on taxing private health care for the first time in history. This will increase premiums and deductibles, and force many businesses to offer less comprehensive coverage to employees.

John McCain's ideas about taxing the hell out of the little man never seem to make much sense unless you're like him - rich. This is one thing (among many) that the market will not eventually fix like he says it will. Although I don't care for Obama's plan much, he at least has one and has put a lot of time and thought into it. McCain's lack of even proposing something new shows how disconnected he is with the nation.

So what should we do?

I don't have the answer. My only suggestion would be a sort of hybrid of both plans mentioned above. Leave health care privatized and more or less how it is, however, expand it to include a national, socialized system for children. Children must be insured, regardless of parental coverage. If their parents' plan is better than the national plan, then continue to let them be included in those plans as dependents. However, if they aren't, make sure they have some kind of coverage so that their parents don't pass on treatment for fear of financial repercussions.

Second, make sure people can receive emergency care. I don't mean emergency room care, I mean legitimate emergency care without digging themselves into a hole that is impossible to overcome. We need to sit down and make a list of covered emergencies, and have ER doctor's sign off on diagnoses. It isn't perfect, but we must try to protect people.