You know what I find fascinating about this debate is the leftward approach to it all. It's as if it's believed that health insurance somehow equals health care. Lol, sometimes I wonder if the left argument even understands firstly that there ARE differences between the two, and secondly, where the differences lie. I honestly don't think it does... and thus, it's fundamentally flawed from the onset.
I'll be honest: this is always the first thing I notice, but never the first thing I bring up. Reason being I wouldn't want to prejudge someone's quite-in-the-literal-sense ignorance (or state of not understanding) on the matter. Woohoo for more definitions! But these, I'll write myself.
Health Care -Simply the literal care you receive from various health practitioners. This would refer to visits or treatments received, etc. Those who work in this realm refer only truly to doctors, nurses, technicians, etc -the people who are trained in the medical field, and those whose overlying ethical model lies in the Hippocratic Oath.
Health Insurance -We use the word policy to describe its entity here; it is the certain something you pay for -an abstract something never seen, nor truly touched- that assists in the payment for your health care. Here, it's more akin to a contract; in socialized systems, well... it's quite a bit different. This aspect of the health field is purely cost driven. THIS what the debate is over -who should run this institution: free, independent companies, or government bureaucracies.
The reason this is important is because when you label it all as health care, you label me and those like me as persons who are against the treatment of individuals due to nothing more than economic status. Quite honestly, that couldn't be further from the truth or more disingenuous an assumption. -I've been in situations many times where I needed immediate health assistance, but had no insurance. And on a personal note, I live with pain every second of my life; I no longer know how to imagine what a painless existence or even brief moment there of feels like. I find it offensive to the nth degree that you would even suggest I'd wish such on anyone else. I acknowledge that you wouldn't have known that, but regardless, how could you accuse anyone of such a stance unless they were Hitler or some other such villian? There is nothing inhumane or heartless about my or anyone's stance against a socialized system.
It's important to understand as well that when government gets involved on the health insurance front, it inevitably leads to a single payer system. Private insurance companies cannot hope to compete with an ever-growing public option, and additional provisions will be present to assure they have no chance. This CANNOT be ignored; its very existence will deny Americans choice, and I'm not sure about Europeans, but freedom is something we value very, very highly here. It's even more important in the health field as this system will inescapably mandate the social justification of certain medical procedures which WILL deny treatment to persons with certain conditions or ages. This is unavoidable. -You have to understand that period, no matter what system you use, there will be people who fall through the cracks. The difference is who will decide who does: individuals themselves, or an obscure government agency who has no choice but to be a heartless bureaucracy by its very nature.
All that being said, most Americans left and rightward recognize our system needs improvement. The way in which to do it is where we differ.
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Date: 2009-10-10 07:01 pm (UTC)I'll be honest: this is always the first thing I notice, but never the first thing I bring up. Reason being I wouldn't want to prejudge someone's quite-in-the-literal-sense ignorance (or state of not understanding) on the matter. Woohoo for more definitions! But these, I'll write myself.
Health Care -Simply the literal care you receive from various health practitioners. This would refer to visits or treatments received, etc. Those who work in this realm refer only truly to doctors, nurses, technicians, etc -the people who are trained in the medical field, and those whose overlying ethical model lies in the Hippocratic Oath.
Health Insurance -We use the word policy to describe its entity here; it is the certain something you pay for -an abstract something never seen, nor truly touched- that assists in the payment for your health care. Here, it's more akin to a contract; in socialized systems, well... it's quite a bit different. This aspect of the health field is purely cost driven. THIS what the debate is over -who should run this institution: free, independent companies, or government bureaucracies.
The reason this is important is because when you label it all as health care, you label me and those like me as persons who are against the treatment of individuals due to nothing more than economic status. Quite honestly, that couldn't be further from the truth or more disingenuous an assumption. -I've been in situations many times where I needed immediate health assistance, but had no insurance. And on a personal note, I live with pain every second of my life; I no longer know how to imagine what a painless existence or even brief moment there of feels like. I find it offensive to the nth degree that you would even suggest I'd wish such on anyone else. I acknowledge that you wouldn't have known that, but regardless, how could you accuse anyone of such a stance unless they were Hitler or some other such villian? There is nothing inhumane or heartless about my or anyone's stance against a socialized system.
It's important to understand as well that when government gets involved on the health insurance front, it inevitably leads to a single payer system. Private insurance companies cannot hope to compete with an ever-growing public option, and additional provisions will be present to assure they have no chance. This CANNOT be ignored; its very existence will deny Americans choice, and I'm not sure about Europeans, but freedom is something we value very, very highly here. It's even more important in the health field as this system will inescapably mandate the social justification of certain medical procedures which WILL deny treatment to persons with certain conditions or ages. This is unavoidable. -You have to understand that period, no matter what system you use, there will be people who fall through the cracks. The difference is who will decide who does: individuals themselves, or an obscure government agency who has no choice but to be a heartless bureaucracy by its very nature.
All that being said, most Americans left and rightward recognize our system needs improvement. The way in which to do it is where we differ.