Each update on national health care insurance I hear on the television has a right or left leaning bias. According to certain comentators the countries who use socialized medicine have damaged their economies and are forced to ration expensive medical care to the elderly. According to others they see the advantage or bonus of socialized medicine and all its positives and see none of the negative aspects of socialized medicine.
I'm in favor of a universal medical care system. However, I'm afraid that there are more ways to create a bad system that will be no better than what we have than there are to create a good system. We have to do this right or we are going to be stuck with the negative aspects of Socialized Medicine without all of the positives.
Few people believe that National healthcare will not create higher taxes. However, we are paying for our broken system already. If some of those costs go away, we may wind up with more money in our pockets.
Now, a sick child who needs emergency medical care will almost without exception be able to get treatment whether or not he or she has insurance or money to pay for the costs of the medical care. We pay for the treatment. The medical professionals has to charge more. It gets the money from its paying patients to make up for the ones that don't pay. At the same time it ruins the credit of the patient who can't write a check for the cost of the services.
Another negative aspect that worries many is the drain on our economy that may be caused by those who lose their ambition because they get qualify for free health care. I suppose that only time will tell, but I think that if we have more healthy people more people will be available to work. There are probably more ambitious people who are unable to work because of poor medical care than there are people who would become lazy when better medical care is available to them.
The positives of socialized medicine include the lessening of employment discrimination for the older workers. If the burden of the cost if insurance were shifted to the government, older and sicker people may be more employable. A small business owner who interviews an older or less healthy applicant, today may focus on how that applicant would raise their group medical insurance premiums and not on the skills and knowledge that person might bring to the job.
More experienced employees will in many cases do a better job than less experienced people. This can increase the efficiency of an employer and mean that the company and our economy better because of it.
Potential entrepreneurs will be able to start their own business without leaving their medical care insurance behind. The fear of losing the families' insurance has kept many people shackled to jobs that they have long ago out grown. National health care will perhaps allow some great man or woman to invent the next big thing, whatever that may be.
Today a parent may be unable to pay for both the food she or he needs to feed their children and the healthcare that they need. This can mean that this parent dies early leaving children behind. A health care system with good preventative care that is available to all can keep these parents around to rear their children and better prepare them to for life.
I think that what we all want is a stronger economy and a better country. Socialized medicine improves our economy by making older, more productive workers and managers more productive. It can also extend the time that some of our youth gets to spend with their parents and have a major impact on our future as a country.
Alston Balkcom has been an insurance agent for over 20 years. He can help you find New-Jersey Group Medical Insurance. His recent blog posts include one about insurance companies competing across state lines.
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