The Case for Universal Health Care

At this moment, there are approximately 49 million Americans who have absolutely no health insurance. That translates into about one in six people.

Worse still, of those who do have coverage, the vast majority are not so well prepared as they might think. How many stories have we all heard, and not just from word-of-mouth, but on the news, about people whose claims for life-saving procedures had been denied.

There is the girl in California who died after being told her liver transplant was "experimental". There is the man who had to choose which of his fingers he'd like sewn back on. And the grandmother who, in the midst of a heart attack, was not allowed into an ambulance until she made her copay up front. Or the little girl who died of a 104 degree fever because the only hospital in her town was not "on the approved list". Or the family who lost their home because their insurance refused to pay for an emergency hospitalization on the grounds that it was not "pre-authorized".

The tales of tragedy go on and on, all in the name of Profit. How many more must suffer? How many more must die before we realize our folly?

Opponents of universal health care proposals argue that these programs would undermine the capitalist principles that power our economy; that they would "socialize" medicine.

To them, I say, "Who cares?" Does it matter to me if I'm not doing my "patriotic duty" by spending thousands of dollars on a deductible if my own child's life is in danger? Not one bit.

What good is our exalted economy, if we've not the lives to enjoy it? Does our GDP matter even the slightest if just one life is lost because of sheer greed? Does anyone actually believe that a "for profit" health insurance industry has any objective more important to them than generating profits?

There are a number of arguments that opponents of these proposals like to use, every one of them fallacious. They speak of dark and dire times ahead, if health care should fall into the vile clutches of "socialism".