User: Backyard Physicist

Re:Good

On: Bill Prohibiting Genetic Discrimination Moves Forward

The whole idea of the entity that has to pay for your health only benefiting when they do not is morally flawed. You'll get no argument from me. However, do you expect different behavior from the government? They will be in the same situation. Every time they pay for our health, they have lost money. Albeit the government isn't trying to make a profit, but it certainly likes to spend money and spending it on us isn't usually the first priority. I don't anticipate that government healthcare will show a notable improvement when compared to current insurance companies. There will of course be one major difference: If you hate your insurance company, get a new one. If you hate your government provided insurance, apply for citizenship elsewhere.

Health care needs to be a right, and the risk or cost spread over everyone, with no one excluded. A right? I thought our rights ended when they infringed upon other people's rights? While I agree that it would be great if everyone had healthcare, I for one have difficulty with the idea of other people being required to pay for my health. If I choose to smoke two packs a day, or drink my liver into oblivion, why should the cost of my poor decisions be covered by the community? The only truly fair option is for each person to pay for their own health costs, because they are the only person whose decisions can affect their health. While there are certainly people who lack healthcare through no fault of their own, there are also those who don't have it because of choices they have made, however unwise. Why should the community provide for those that could provide for themselves but chose not to? A national healthplan can easily become an excuse for societal parasites not unlike the welfare programs (Note: I certainly don't feel that anyone on welfare is just taking advantage of society's kindness, but there is no arguing that the system has more then a few professional freeloaders.)

Just the waste in the Pentagon budget could cover everyone. No doubt. But the U.S. government doesn't have the most spectacular track record for trimming the waste. If I were to wager a guess, a national healthcare system would not only be very unlikely to use the existing waste in our government's budget, but it would very likely result in higher taxes and even greater waste. Politicians take a special joy in spending tax revenues, and I doubt very likely that they would suddenly change their minds just because they were presented with a more noble cause. No, all things considered, I don't think that the U.S. government will handle healthcare any better than the other things they handle. Whether you are Democrat, Republican, independent, or otherwise, remember this: sometimes your party won't be predominant in the government. Do you really want your healthcare controlled and handled by whomever won the latest popularity contest?