Understanding the Dangers of Universal Health Care

Though politicians can certainly make it sound appealing, there is a lot more to the realities of universal health care than I think most Americans are being told.

If you do the research on what's going on in countries who currently have socialized health care, that in itself will be enough to convince you that it's not such a great idea as it's being portrayed. Here are just a few things you should consider about this issue:

1) Do a search on Canadians having to come to the U.S. border states for health care due to not having access to what they need from their socialized health care system.

As messed up as our system is supposed to be and how great theirs is supposed to be, why then does this keep happening?

Sadly, people are even dying needlessly because they can't get medications or surgeries that are common in the U.S. because they can't afford to come here. There have been similar cases in Sweden, which is another country used as a popular example for these systems.

2) Think back to your last trip to the DMV or the post office during the holidays. Apply that feeling of having to wait to being sick in a doctor's office or hospital.

Health care is not an area of your life where you should have to tolerate being treated like a number. Instead of waiting hours however, some health care waiting lists may turn into days, weeks, or even years as people use (and in some cases, abuse) the system. This is no exaggeration. Just look up socialized care medical cases for yourself.

I'm a healthy person, but I know I'm going to at least have children one day. I definitely don't want this to become a way of life for them. Part of the problem is we're being sold at best a short-term solution for a high long-term price that future generations will have to pay, just like Generations X and Y are likely not going to see Social Security benefits (socialized retirement) even though they're paying into it right now.

3) The economics of socialistic programs do not work out long-term because they financially punish people for doing well and reward them for not overcoming their circumstances.

The so-called "greedy rich people" in the U.S. are already having 50% or more of their incomes taken up in taxes. Funny thing is we're not taught this in school. A lot of the tax "loopholes" you hear about are just people trying to do what they can to keep money they've earned to just make it worth doing.

If this trend continues with taxes, it could eventually force more business owners into either leaving the country or at minimum discourage them from creating higher incomes. This will translate into stalled small business growth (which is basically the life of our economy) and cost jobs.

4) The universal health care system would also put a major strain on doctors and other health care professionals, along with virtually capping their incomes.

I can't imagine going to school for that long and going into a lot of debt and then finding out you can only make so much money a year due to how the health care system would be structured. Again, it will be punishing people for working hard and doing well. As much as these people really do care, the ability to provide quality care will be very difficult.

After looking into this, I could never in good conscience vote for something that has the potential to cause this much damage to our country's economy and our overall quality of health. Some people may say a system like this may turn out differently if we did it, but do we really want to take that chance?

I just think that it's extremely difficult to reverse a mistake on a national scale once it's been made, and I don't want to gamble with my own health or anyone else's. Financially punishing the middle and upper classes to pay for health care for the lower classes is leaning toward economic socialism, no matter name you call it.

No matter what your political affiliation, we need to seriously think about this as a country if we ever want solid and long-term solutions to our health care issues. I honestly believe there is no "one-plan-fits-all" quick fix to this. It's multiple problems, and just throwing a pile of money on them won't make them go away.

Developing free-market alternatives such as wide-spread health savings accounts, corporate tax incentives for helping low-income patients, and direct negotiation of costs between health care providers and individuals would at least be a better start to encourage competition for higher quality care. It would also fit in with how our economy is designed to work as well.