I read this on another forum & thought it was pretty good - I'll share with all of you & then make my comments.
This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock, powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US Department of Energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I watch this while eating my breakfast of US Department of Agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.
At the appropriate time as regulated by the US Congress, and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the US Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads built by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank. On the way out the door, I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After work, I drive my NHTSA bar back home on DOT roads, to a house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.
I then log on to the internet which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration and post of FreeRepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.
My comments:
Personally, I don't think that "gov't run" is any worse or better than "privately run"... after all, they're ALL done by human beings... that is human beings who are busy being human... making mistakes, doing things that are "wrong" to others because it is "helpful" to themselves... illegal things... stupid things... things that used to work but for whatever reason don't work anymore, etc.
It's true that gov't facilities are bogged down in some ridiculous paperwork and some things they do are seemingly a complete waste of time..... but I have experienced THE SAME in private institutions as well (maybe not to such a large extent, but still).
I'm still on the fence about whether or not the Health Reform will be a really good thing, but that's mainly because the kinks are nowhere near being ironed out yet. At any rate, I do have hope that improvement is on the way. Because what we have now is clearly NOT the answer.
On another note, there are some believers who think that if people would stop using insurance to pay for the most basic things, the health care industry would be forced to downsize & actually compete for patients. For instance, a couple decide to have a baby. This is something planned. But paying for the doc visits & all the other pregnancy care is just too much to pocket (or rather, UNpocket). So they use their insurance to offset all doctor, hospital & check up bills. Imagine using insurance for ONLY catastrophic needs! - such as car accidents, very expensive cancer treatments, etc. instead of having a co-pay of $25 per doctor visit & outrageous premiums. If there was an insurance that was available to EVERYONE based on premiums costing what could be afforded by income...an insurance that was ONLY used for catastrophic needs, then the premiums would go DOWN and people would get MORE through their paycheck & would shop MORE WISELY for a doctor and avoid all the b'cratic red tape (which, coincidentally, costs MORE) therefore doctors would be inclined to be competitive with charging patients & patients themselves could be IN CHARGE of their health care decisions. This would give the hospitals competitiveness in that little "health shops" would start popping up... like banks or CVS stores on every corner... people who had "the sniffles" would no longer pay a doctor $75 for a 10 minute visit, instead they would go to a "health shop" & get seen within 15 minutes & pay only, say, $35/month for any kind of flu-bug or hurting back or whatnot. Then at the end of each calendar year, whatever wasn't used by this patient-run system would be GIVEN BACK to the patients (try doing THAT with any kind of modern-day insurance plan!) This would also force patients to become more interested in eating right, exercising, taking better care of their own health.
Yeah - there's kinks to be worked out in any system, including the one I just laid out above - but the bottom line is that Obama's plan will help those who are too poor to help themselves (whether by choice or by circumstances makes no matter) and anyone with an ounce of humanity would WANT to help their fellow citizens... but still, it will be the taxpayer paying for it all... once again... and just how much more can the average tax payer give?
