In the Navy, Christopher J. Brownfield was a patient under socialized health care and lived to tell the tale. He explains why the public option for health care is good enough for the military—and America.
“Socialized medicine” is the straw man that’s killing the public option for health care in America, but why? Is it that Republicans truly fear socialism as the greatest evil that mankind has faced in our long climb from the swamp to the stars, or is it something more pragmatic and banal?
Perhaps “socialized medicine” is killing the public option because Democrats seriously hope that government can solve all of America’s health-care problems, when at best government is only part of a complex solution. If Americans are to find common ground on public health care, we must be able to come to grips with these hopes and fears.
I was a patient under socialized health care—and I lived to tell the tale. The care I received was part of the standard benefits for all active-duty personnel who serve in the armed services of the United States.
Nary a single member of Congress, from sea to shining sea, is proposing a bill with “socialized” anything. So what’s the real problem?
My journey with socialized medicine started in 1997 when I joined the Navy. Those were the good old days, when the ship’s doc handed out free cough syrup and 800-milligram tablets of Motrin like they were candy (we called it Vitamin M). We shopped at the “commissary” for subsidized groceries in our gated socialized community of freedom-loving, red meat-eating, modern day warriors; our “public option” for health care seemed to work just fine.
Did anyone warn the military about the evils of its socialist ways? Or were we too preoccupied with the real sacrifices that our servicemen willingly made for the benefit of others in society to demonize the socialized nature of their health care?
Socialized military medicine is good enough for my comrades in arms, and it’s good enough for the rest of America. That being said, socialized medicine is irrelevant to this debate, because nary a single member of Congress, from sea to shining sea, is proposing a bill with “socialized” anything. So what’s the real problem?
In a completely free market, private insurance companies would not be willing to insure active-duty personnel at an affordable price; their chances of being sent to Iraq and injured are simply too high to justify the downside risk of the policies. This is a classic example of a market failure where the government has intervened successfully by providing a “public option” to the troops. The market may work fine for most cases, but there are special cases where government intervention can help by filling in the gaps.
The controversy comes when the government threatens to compete with private insurers in the broader market, potentially distorting prices through unfair competition. This could become a classic example of government failure, where too much intervention can cause the market to stop functioning.
Specifically, a public option with unfair subsidies would distort the market in the health industry and destroy the incentives for profits. And contrary to popular opinion, profits are not evil. Profits are good incentives for the kinds of innovation that have led to vastly improved medicines and longer, more fulfilling lives for people around the world. To me, this march of human progress with America in the lead is worth paying a premium over what we should expect to pay for basic medical needs. And yes, that means that some CEOs will make a lot more money than I will. In the long run, humanity will be better off when innovation is driven by real incentives instead of tax dollars.
(an excellent perspective those on the left and right of this issue should consider - well said Chris, I agree)
__________________
"I would not support repeal of Roe vs. Wade, which would then force women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations."ť Senator John McCain
Source: Ron Fournier, Associated Press Aug 24, 1999
Location: land of the Lilliputians, In the state of insanity
Posts: 24,186
Works great. I have a buddy that was told last month he had to pay for his medication. Medication he has to take due to a head injury he suffered in the first gulf war.
No thank you. Move to Canada and enjoy.
__________________
kaafir mushrik
Unintended consequences and God have one thing in common: Liberals don’t believe in either of them.
Works great. I have a buddy that was told last month he had to pay for his medication. Medication he has to take due to a head injury he suffered in the first gulf war.
No thank you. Move to Canada and enjoy.
So your buddy has opted out of his socialized medical plan and purchased private insurance because he thinks it is so much better?
Right?
If he can't afford it, you or your church would foot the bill, Right?
__________________
"I would not support repeal of Roe vs. Wade, which would then force women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations."ť Senator John McCain
Source: Ron Fournier, Associated Press Aug 24, 1999
That whole article is a load of crap. That kid -who I really can't call a kid because he's probably my age - is talking out of his a$*. The military's socialized healthcare sucks. Not to say it should be any different, but it does suck. It is not 'good enough for the rest of America'. You have no right, nor does the government, to determine what is good enough for America. That is the problem with the public option.
Oh, and yes, we do fear socialism, you jackass (the author of the article, not the poster). Some of the greatest evils the world has ever known did stem from socialism.
__________________
"Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance." G.K. Chesterton
Hey this guy is a vet - so if you criticize him, you must hate America and her troops.
Maybe you should move to France if you don't love the greatest nation on earth.
(Dick, Carl, did I say that right?)
__________________
"I would not support repeal of Roe vs. Wade, which would then force women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations."ť Senator John McCain
Source: Ron Fournier, Associated Press Aug 24, 1999
Location: land of the Lilliputians, In the state of insanity
Posts: 24,186
Since this one guy loved his tricare, I would like to submit another wonderful example. My dad is dieing of cancer. He is a Korean war vet. He has colon cancer. He waited 4 months for a screening and had to drive from Bigsprings Texas to Amarillo Texas to be told that. Then he had to drive that agian to get the screening. And guess what, he has to drive back and forth for treatment. He also has to foot some of the bill. The cancer has spread and he will not recover. I just wonder if he was screened earlier and treated earlier, would he have had a better chance of it not spreading?? Dont know, but the waiting time did not help.
And who said there is no rationing or line waiting in social medicine.
Medical reform is needed, but not a social program.
__________________
kaafir mushrik
Unintended consequences and God have one thing in common: Liberals don’t believe in either of them.
Location: land of the Lilliputians, In the state of insanity
Posts: 24,186
I forgot to mention, the cancer treatment center in Lubbock Texas (one of the best in the nation) is much closer than Amarillo, but tricare would not foot the bill to go there. He had to use the V.A. hospital.
__________________
kaafir mushrik
Unintended consequences and God have one thing in common: Liberals don’t believe in either of them.
That whole article is a load of crap. That kid -who I really can't call a kid because he's probably my age - is talking out of his a$*. The military's socialized healthcare sucks. Not to say it should be any different, but it does suck. It is not 'good enough for the rest of America'. You have no right, nor does the government, to determine what is good enough for America. That is the problem with the public option.
Oh, and yes, we do fear socialism, you jackass (the author of the article, not the poster). Some of the greatest evils the world has ever known did stem from socialism.
See, I read stupid articles like this one and I start making stupid comments. The military doesn't have "socialized" medicine. That's a stupid way of putting it. When you are employed by the military, you are eligible for their healthcare benefits. It is healthcare that sucks, but those are the benefits that come with that job.
It is a good example of what socialized medicine is like, as is Canada. The problem with Canada, is that they don't have a choice to get a better job or a different job that has better or different benefits. These stupid democrats are going to take that freedom away from us.
__________________
"Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance." G.K. Chesterton
Wow--you found something to copy and paste to support what you choose to believe! Congratulations!
Nevermind those of us that speak first-hand. The Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta, GA (Ft. Gordon) took a week, with me as an inpatient, to figure out my high blood pressure was stress-related (not due to me abusing any illegal substance, which was what I was tested for all week).
When I injured my ankle on a "confidence course", the best they could tell me was "it's not broken", and put me in a cast for 6 weeks. The quality of the cast material was so pitiful I had to get the cast re-set two more times in 6 weeks because my body sweat caused it to break down and be worthless.
After having troubles stemming from that injury for almost 20 years, now I'm stuck in a brace for the rest of my life unless I have the bones in my ankle fused. My permenant limp has caused back and hip problems. I figure over the years I've spent tens of thousands of dollars, plus what my insurance has paid, and the military hasn't spent one thin dime. My one trip to a Military dentist went along the lines of "Tell me if this hurts more than you can stand, and I'll deaden it." You had absolutely no choice of doctors (some obviously cared, some obviously didn't), no choice of treatment (what the doc said went), no choice in much of anything. People were constantly trying to abuse the "free" system (some joined thinking they would get their teeth fixed, etc.), the docs were on constant guard against that, and they could base treatment on whether or not they believed you.
Most vets in my area travel over 2 hours (one way) to get to the VA hospital in Memphis, TN. There's at least one small clinic in the area, but I don't think they can even do an X-ray, much less anything more serious or complicated.
We also have the recent fiasco at military hospitals--rats and roaches and all kinds of filth.
'Course if you don't have a clue what you are talking about, and are just a bho sheep surfing the 'net for talking points, you won't know or care how bad even the best socialized "healthcare" in the world can be.
Nevermind that everything the gov't tries to micro-manage--Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, even their own cafeteria--goes down the crapper.
Why do the Dems care? They don't need even one Republican vote to pass anything they want. Let 'em have at it--let them own it.
Chad
__________________
"We can have no '50-50' allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all."-- Theodore Roosevelt
A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left. Ecclesiasties 10:2
The last four letters in American..........I Can
The last four letters in Republican........I Can
The last four letters in Democrats.........Rats
Socialized Medicine Works for the Military
