Originally posted by Arcane Demesne
Just because you receive a service, doesn't make it a right.
And just because you don't doesn't mean it's *not* a right. Many, if not most, advanced nations have written into law the right to public health
care, just as we have written into the law the right to public education.
I understand the notion, but the point is that the Government would be nothing more than an overgrown insurance company. And that is not the
purpose of Government.
But there would be several substantial differences. The insurance business is a for-profit industry; government is not. Government is already a
non-profit insurance provider through its Medicare program, but right now only the elderly are covered by it. Under the National Health Insurance Act,
it would simply extend coverage to everyone else.
And don't get me wrong, Kucinich is my man, I wish he'd team up with Ron Paul already.
I'm glad to hear it, and have myself been an activist for Kucinich in the last two elections. I basically agree with Ron Paul on his strict
constitutionalism, civil liberties, and the war in Iraq. However, I have large differences with him in the economic sphere.
But, as a young man just starting out in the world with tons of schools loans to pay back, I don't want to have to pay for a service that I'm
not going to use.
I can certainly understand that, as I was in the exact same position myself when I graduated. But a couple of points to ease your mind:
1. Everybody (me, you, all Republicans, Democrats, Greens, Libertarians, and Socialists) are eventually going to need health care, and lots of it.
Trust me: it's a service you *will* use. We're all going to grow old, get sick, and eventually die. The last thing we need at that stage is having
to worry about where the money is going to come from. Also, the time will come when we have to take care of our parents, even if we ourselves our
healthy. Same thing with our children.
2. The natioanl health program will actually be *less* expensive...you can take some of the money you would otherwise be paying for insurance
premiums, and put it to pay off your college loans.
I can see a vision like Dennis' coming to fruition as an optional tax once everything is straightened out, our government downsized and the
income tax abolished. Until then, social programs will just add to the size and cost of government.
Yet the cost of government is still far less than the cost of private health insurance. Dennis' plan would make this extremely affordable. There's
already enough money in the system to cover everyone if we eliminate the insurance profits. Unlike the Canadian/European model, physicians would
remain in private practice. Patients would have full choice (no more HMO networks). If their doctor says something needs to be done, Medicare covers
it.
The only thing that would be "socialized" is the insurance aspect. Most of those currently working for private insurance companies would still have
jobs in the administration of Medicare. Their payroll would be met by abolishing the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy and by ending the war in Iraq. This
would also allow tax cuts for the middle class and working poor.
