Jumping off the bandwagon
Have you noticed the change in platforms for this upcoming 2020 election?
So many were eager to rush to the microphone to “Get Behind” some of the progressive ideas being put out there. Medicare for All, Free College Tuition,Green New Deal, guaranteed monthly income, etc. Socialist ideas. Now, many are backing off of some of that because not only do they not want to be be labeled a Socialist, they are also being asked to explain it. Once you try to explain these socialist ideas, and what freedoms it removes from people, you realize the support for them quickly diminishes. Notice, not one candidate for President will come out and say they are a Socialist. They will say they support all these ideas, but they will not say the word Socialism. It’s as if they know it is a cringe worthy word. The minute you start to explain the losses associated with what you are proposing, the removal of some liberties, people reject it out of hand.
Let’s just take Medicare for all for example. When people are told that this would remove all Private insurance, the support for it goes down by 50%. Many people think Medicare for all is giving them the type of heath insurance they currently have (many from their employers) without the price. Not true. Private insurance becomes non existent and you are left with only Medicare. So let’s look at that impact.
Approximately 150 million people would be tossed off their current health care plans. {Remember that consequence from the ACA}. Many people have not even recovered from that fiasco. Didn’t get to keep their insurance, or their doctor, or for that matter the freedom to choose a plan that fits what works best for them and their family. The government decided what coverage you have to have whether you need it or not. You no longer have the liberty to decide what is best for you. Also, think of the 1000’s of people employed in the private heath sector. Secretaries, customer service reps, under writers, etc. etc., they would be instantly unemployed, disrupting an entire industry as well as plunging health providers into a scramble of how to navigate through yet another tangled law.
The impact on physicians would be great as well. One of the reasons Medicare works well is because many physicians are able to accept Medicare patients because they also have private insurance patients to offset the cost. If you remove the private insurance you will see less and less physicians accepting Medicare and only those who are of means and can afford the cost will be seen by physicians. The people most harmed by this are the very people we are being told they are trying to help. People will be forced to go to not a doctor or their choice, but one that is available. Less options, less care, lessor Freedom.
These are just some of the casualties that would occur. I have not even addressed the cost associated with this. That is an entire separate blog.
There is a reason many wealthy people from other countries come here for major health related situations. We have the best healthcare around. Period, no debate. We have this because we have the freedom to think, to come up with innovate ideas and treatments. We have the liberty to choose what field of medicine to go into, or research.
We have these liberties because we are a free society. Yes, a free society has some risks, but a Socialist society brings bigger risks. We risk the chance to be the best, the brightest, the most envied country in the world. Preserving those liberties is paramount to our survival, because without them, I’m afraid their is no health care plan to save us.
So if you see some politicians jumping off the bandwagon of Socialism, let them. If they break a bone, we still have healthcare to help set the broken bone and be good as new.