Socialized Healthcare

Healthcare is a rather odd topic. From the capitalist point of view, it makes money mostly on people's misfortune. From a social point of view, there is this idea that everyone has a right to healthcare, after all how can you live a good and happy life if you aren't healthy. It seems like a fair argument on the surface level, who are we to say someone doesn't have the right to be healthy? The problem is that we are neglecting so many factors, especially the human factor. That to me seems to be the problem with socialism as a whole, neglecting the human factor.

So to start with, do we have a right to our health? No. Some people are born with health problems, others may be perfectly healthy from birth to death. Some people choose to live an unhealthy life, others may choose to make their entire life about their health and how healthy they can be. From the very start people are on an unequal footing and as life progresses that changes constantly whether from life choices or unforeseen circumstances. There is no guarantee to anyone that they will have a long and healthy life. Even with modern medicine, we are still limited in how much of an improvement we can offer, if any, to various situations.

So what if it was a right? Or what if we don't care and say everyone should have access to healthcare? Well, the first thing is that healthcare is done professionals. People spend time and money to learn how to care for people's health. Saying a person has a right to healthcare means that people have a right to any healthcare professional's skills. A doctor or nurse would be unable to refuse someone. How could that be bad, someone might wonder. Examples could include if a doctor doesn't support transitioning, abortion, circumcision, or anything that people today want to argue about. Also if we add the government in to the mix, they will most likely fix the prices. Now no matter what skill level the doctors are, they will make the same amount. This may sounds great from a consumer perspective, but this would only degrade the healthcare system as a whole.

Another big problem is that everyone pays into the system, so everyone should theoretically have a say in what services are actually healthcare. This is going to force people to have more rigid views, after all it's part of their money being spent on healthcare. This sounds great to people who believe they have majority opinion. Instead, put yourself in the shoes of a minority opinion. Take abortion for example, imagine if all the people on the opposite side get there way and now the enforcement is not law, but instead healthcare. Imagine the healthcare supporting all that you oppose and not supporting what you want it to. This is what will happen to people who will be forced to pay the socialized healthcare system. People will have more of a right to make those decisions for everyone because they are paying for everyone. You could end up with health coverage that does nothing for you, goes against your beliefs, but you still have to pay for it and to change anything you then need to sway the entire country.

The most damning part of all of this is financially it just is not possible. People get sick unexpectedly, some people are born with more needs than others. Estimating the amount of money needed for this would be hard enough, getting that amount would be impossible. Currently private healthcare companies can work because they are made to make money. Since the goal is to make money, they have money even when the unexpected occur. Some even offer incentives for you to prove yourself healthy and that you are taking care of yourself, costing you less and allowing the chance for the company to make more. It's a win-win while still maintaining a safety net for both parties. Not to mention, they cover smaller areas with fewer people, meaning less overhead for managing it all as well as better fine-tuning. The US is a much larger country than most out there with an incredible number of people. This is a logistical nightmare to try and account for the health of so many people across such a huge area. The money for overhead alone would likely be tremendous. Most of the estimates given are just not achievable.

Socialized healthcare comes from a caring thought, but the warm and fuzzy feelings just cannot change reality. Even if we assume we can get the money and support for it, people will argue about it and try to tear it apart so that it is personalized to them. People are greedy and selfish, and it's not a bad thing. Greed and selfishness are good because we can understand those motivators and work with those goals. It is when those traits are forgotten that we end up with things that sound nice but just will not work. We cannot save everyone and not everyone wants to be saved. As far as I can see, socialized healthcare will not work and even if the figures could add up I would still not support it.