Health Care Reform #2 - Government & Capitalism

There is a segment of the population that will never believe in a completely government run health care system. I understand their view to an extent.

The government historically has had trouble getting things right. The government has been a lousy landlord (public housing) over the years and the nation's welfare system was insane for many years. Besides, it is their democratic right to be against universal health coverage.

Personally, I am for universal health coverage (everyone covered) but my health plan right now, even with serious flaws, is not that bad, as long as my company doesn't cap me out, or deny me coverage for some cost saving reason or on some technicality. This is where the government, in my view, should play a role for everyone including me if it comes up.

As for those not covered at all, the government should take care of them as well. I don't mind paying for that either if I am able. A little tax hike or fees for my fellow man and woman is fine because if we don't pay it, those uncovered ill citizens will one day stagger into a hospital emergency room, get admitted and need weeks of treatment, and the costs will be passed down to us that way. Premiums might go up, costs of drugs, our own treatment will keep drifting higher and higher.

When the health care debate started, this is where I thought it was going. I thought the real objective was to cover everyone and fix the flaws in the system. The uncovered landscaper with diabetes can get a prescription and a monthly doctor visit to monitor his condition. The woman with high blood pressure and a pulmonary condition can get pills and an inhaler and a regular three month check-up.

But we know now, that the GOP has been successful in changing the parameters of the debate.

The debate is all over the place and now we are arguing over issues which have nothing to do with core issues: can I get access even if I have no money and no job, and will everyone else be covered as well?

The GOP (the Republicans), as they are always able to do, turn every legislative initiative into a referendum on the survival of capitalism in America. Every law must bow at the feet of capitalism and conform to that religion or be condemned to economic hell. The health care debate is no different.

The big debate now is the government run option which would serve as the safety net and the equalizer. The GOP argued that such an entity would put the private insurers out of business because the private insurers could not compete with a government option that had inherent advantages. Then, a socialized system would answer the call.

Again, I doubt it.

I am familiar with government run health plans because I have helped people get their bills paid through Medicaid and Medicare as a public interest lawyer. I used to spend my days at the city-run (the government) hospital in Washington D.C. collecting medical records and speaking to clients. I assure you; it works but it is a bureaucratic morass and will not compete that well with a well oiled, efficient, bottom line, capitalist machine (a private health insurance company).

I am also somewhat familiar with veterans insurance provided by the government through my legal work. I have walked into the VA hospital in DC and observed four men sharing one hospital room that is half the size of a normal room. Men and some women crowd the lobby and the hallways in order to get health care. They get it, but it is slow and tedious. How many of you in for some tests want to share a room with three other people for a few days?

My point is, the government plan is a good idea but the government is never going to be that efficient though it should strive to be. But this is the nature of bureaucracy and personally, I am prepared to accept some of it. Remember back in the 60's when the government had to give all children a vaccine for a new disease really quick? There were long lines but the government got it done. Imagine, if a company was running that, and we had to pay. It would have been World War V.

With that said, if I have no care, lost my job, sick, and need some tests or treatment, and the government is providing the financial help, I am going to take it. And I will accept some of the shortcomings until I get back on my feet again. We should press it to be efficient and not get worse but it is free, and a lot of people like the word "free."

This is precisely why the GOP's railings against any government option is a crock. In fact, I don't know why the GOP is against a public option. Can the government make a better computer than private companies? No way. If it could, the government would make computers and not buy them from the private companies. Can the government produce better bicycles than FUJI? No way.

Point is, individual innovation, motivated by reward is an important human concept. The government could never produce Google or Federal Express. Federal Express is better than the U.S. Postal Service, the government associated mail service (though not actually the government) in sending packages. But this doesn't mean we don't need UPS as well.

Concepts of socialism have real implications and we have to admit that as we move forward. The reason countries based upon Marxist-Leninist principles have trouble is because a slacker gets the same as a hard worker. But just because there are flaws does not justify condemnation of the entire concept of government health. Government is not all bad, and the GOP and many others know it. The Defense Department is the government; should be privatize that?

The finally point is, there must be a middle ground, give and take; everything cannot be competition or motivated by just profit. At some point, the government's social contract with the people must become an intimate and necessary component of the market as well. This must be embraced by the country because citizens will be working in that government system and it has to feel like a great thing if and when it happens.

If the point is always profit and wealth at the maximum level at the expense of human dignity, don't worry about health care, we are doomed.