It seems that with the rising costs of healthcare today, it would benefit everyone to be able to have some sort of national program that makes sure every citizen has access to good medicine and preventative health care. Few people would debate that point, or the fact that as more wellness care and preventative care are available, more people have fewer larger health problems later.
How to structure any kind of a national program, however, is problematic. Not all countries with national health care are seen as doing it particularly well. Questions about how to fund, structure, administer and police such a system are huge. Are elective procedures allowed? Is doctor choice up to the individual? How is payment handled? Will benefits be the same for all Americans regardless of their income, or will less affluent families have access to more preventative care simply to level the playing field? What about a person who smokes, or uses drugs? Will society accept a health-care system that covers those people as well?
You can see how complicated the issues are. And it doesn't simplify it any to know that whatever health care plan that passes will need to find its way through Congress and the White House before becoming law.
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It seems that with the rising costs of healthcare today, it would benefit everyone to be able to have some sort of national program that makes sure every citizen has access to good medicine and preventative health care. Few people would debate that point, or the fact that as more wellness care and preventative care are available, more people have fewer larger health problems later.
How to structure any kind of a national program, however, is problematic. Not all countries with national health care are seen as doing it particularly well. Questions about how to fund, structure, administer and police such a system are huge. Are elective procedures allowed? Is doctor choice up to the individual? How is payment handled? Will benefits be the same for all Americans regardless of their income, or will less affluent families have access to more preventative care simply to level the playing field? What about a person who smokes, or uses drugs? Will society accept a health-care system that covers those people as well?
You can see how complicated the issues are. And it doesn't simplify it any to know that whatever health care plan that passes will need to find its way through Congress and the White House before becoming law.
September 30, 2008 - 9:56amThis Comment
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