There is also the issue that as much as our citizens have the right to healthcare, our citizens also have the right to pursue happiness. We have the right to give charitably if we wish, but we also have the right not to give charitably, if we don't wish. And I would certainly hope that there are more charitable people than non-charitable people in our society, but if there aren't, then forced charity isn't going to be the solution to the problem. In fact, forced charity likely breeds more than enough of its own problems, a few of which I have already mentioned. Though I also know that there are many, many people who live in countries with nationalized healthcare who are very happy with the system and don't mind paying higher taxes -- so I'm not entirely against such a system. But I am conscious of the vast differences between those countries and ours (not least of all, the sheer size of the US compared to the countries that do seem to have effective nationalized healthcare), and I'm skeptical that such a system could ever work here, much less be implemented in an efficient and effective way. The fact that Congress cannot even agree on a system does not instill confidence...
And what about those of us who currently do have good healthcare, who are in positions to pay for the privilege? My husband and I, for example, just signed up for new insurance for the coming year, and we're committing a lot to it to ensure that we have the kind of coverage we might need should I have a complication with my pregnancy, or our baby be born prematurely and require time in ICU or long-term treatment for some birth defect or illness. It's important to us to be able to provide the best care possible for our family, without ruining us financially, and we're confident that with this plan we've chosen, we will both be protected financially and receive the best medical care we can get. Now, I would also like to think that if we couldn't afford this, we could get the help we need, but we don't expect other people to bail us out -- that's why we worked to go to college, worked to get through college, and worked after college to pay off debts and not accrue more debts. We live frugally, we save, we plan, and it's paid off for us. And I do understand that we've been very lucky, while other people just seem to get struck by disaster after disaster and can never get their feet under them...But this is how it is for us, and we can't apologize for that. Nor am I willing to sacrifice the level of care we're able to afford for some system that might or might not provide quality healthcare to everyone. When you come right down to it, my family is more important to me than anyone, and if I have a choice between what I have now and a system that could, potentially, screw us over, leaving us barely, or unable, to provide the care we would wish for ourselves, nevermind giving charitably to those less fortunate...Well, can you really blame me for being hesitant to support that kind of uncertain change?
I don't claim to be an economic expert by any stretch, but I do understand that we benefit from the insurance industry being a competitive industry operating within a free market. If suddenly the government is regulating that market, offering some alternative that takes away that competitive edge, people who worked to afford a certain level of care may well find themselves unable to afford that, and forced to settle for something inferior. And then you have done exactly the opposite of what you set out to do: denied people's right to have access to healthcare.
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And what about those of us who currently do have good healthcare, who are in positions to pay for the privilege? My husband and I, for example, just signed up for new insurance for the coming year, and we're committing a lot to it to ensure that we have the kind of coverage we might need should I have a complication with my pregnancy, or our baby be born prematurely and require time in ICU or long-term treatment for some birth defect or illness. It's important to us to be able to provide the best care possible for our family, without ruining us financially, and we're confident that with this plan we've chosen, we will both be protected financially and receive the best medical care we can get. Now, I would also like to think that if we couldn't afford this, we could get the help we need, but we don't expect other people to bail us out -- that's why we worked to go to college, worked to get through college, and worked after college to pay off debts and not accrue more debts. We live frugally, we save, we plan, and it's paid off for us. And I do understand that we've been very lucky, while other people just seem to get struck by disaster after disaster and can never get their feet under them...But this is how it is for us, and we can't apologize for that. Nor am I willing to sacrifice the level of care we're able to afford for some system that might or might not provide quality healthcare to everyone. When you come right down to it, my family is more important to me than anyone, and if I have a choice between what I have now and a system that could, potentially, screw us over, leaving us barely, or unable, to provide the care we would wish for ourselves, nevermind giving charitably to those less fortunate...Well, can you really blame me for being hesitant to support that kind of uncertain change?
I don't claim to be an economic expert by any stretch, but I do understand that we benefit from the insurance industry being a competitive industry operating within a free market. If suddenly the government is regulating that market, offering some alternative that takes away that competitive edge, people who worked to afford a certain level of care may well find themselves unable to afford that, and forced to settle for something inferior. And then you have done exactly the opposite of what you set out to do: denied people's right to have access to healthcare.