We
All Pay For Healthcare
Idiot has a different meaning today than
it did to ancient Greeks. Then it meant
selfish, but among those who would prefer to not participate in society-wide
healthcare, terminology both modern and ancient applies.
When you are healthy and when concerns
of injury or illness are minimal in both occurrence and expense, it can be easy
to say, “I’m not going to pay for the healthcare of people who would not get it
on their own.” But when the chips are
down, and morbidity and mortality loom threateningly, the one thing every
organism on this planet will fight for – tooth and claw, with extreme prejudice
– is its own survival. People who would
elect to not pay for regular health service will none the less seek aid when they
desperately need it. People who did not
have the income to pay a monthly insurance premium most likely did not save
money for the eventual likelihood of some medical emergency, but they will
still go to the hospital when their future existence is under assault. The affordability of health services remains
a huge question mark. If they couldn’t –
or wouldn’t – pay for healthcare up front, who do you suppose ends up paying
for it when the situation becomes dire?
Who is going to be so noble as to suffer
silently in sickness, accepting the responsibility for their poor choice to not
enroll in a healthcare and otherwise save money while they were healthy? Who is going to be so philosophical as to
allow their child to die of unforeseen and unanticipated but treatable circumstances
instead of seeking medical attention and then allow the system to absorb the
cost of care? Those costs must be paid
for by somebody. The for-profit
enterprises that exist are not going to simply allow one family’s crisis to eat
into their cashflow – they will raise prices elsewhere to make up for
that.
Everybody who seeks medical attention at
a doctor’s office, walk-in-care-clinic, or a major medical center pays for more
than just their own care, they also pay for the care of people who have been
treated there and could not – or would not – pay their bills. Even if the medical center writes off the
cost of your care, those nickels and dimes get added to the care of other, more
responsible patients. Even if you get
charity from your church, somebody else is paying for it. Every time a person who can’t afford care
gets taken care of, it gets paid for somewhere.
Everybody who already has healthcare is already part of a socialized
system – albeit one that is somewhat elective in that you go and enroll on your
own or through your employer – but your premium still pays for the healthcare
of everybody who is a part of your system.
The problem lies mostly within the
hundreds of different health insurance providers, for-profit companies, who
must protect their profits at the cost of care.
Bypass that with a system of fully socialized medicine and you do away
with the biggest part of the problem. But
the problem also lies partly with idiots who won’t become part of the system
while they are hale and hearty and can help humanity, but then go begging for exceptional
consideration when it’s their turn to suffer.
Their costs add to your costs, their bankruptcies encumber the economy,
their selfish and stupid indifference is part of the problem and not part of
the solution. You can’t just pass it off
and say, “Well, I’m not sick now, and I would really rather use my money to buy
a big new (INSERT PRODUCT).” If you are
not going get healthcare of your own, why should anybody else pay for it?
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