Imagine a Utopia where everyone can go to the doctor for free and get his medications for free. Wouldn’t it be nice? Well, if you think Healthcare is expensive now wait until it’s free.
What? Well, let’s look at another country, take Switzerland for example. Switzerland’s quality to life is much like that of America. However they have free Healthcare. How do they pay for it? Higher taxes of course-MUCH higher taxes.
People must wait in line for months and months to see the doctor. More often the people go to hospital emergency rooms because treatment is much, much faster. According to the Federal Statistics Office, 1.39 million patients were treated in Switzerland’s 364 hospitals at a cost of $10.6 billion in 2001.
Some doctors say that waiting lines are so long that there are always “People waiting in restrooms or corridors.” Another problem with the system is that, as people become more informed to medical procedures, they demand newer treatments, such as x-rays and scans more often than is needed; this further ties the system.
There are fewer and fewer doctors as well. Less young people enter medicine.
Some other problems of Universal Healthcare include:
Destroys patient incentives to find the best possible prices for the best possible services/products available. The poor who recieve "free" (taxpayer-funded) healthcare continually seek care for the most minor afflictions. Why wouldn't they? It's "free" to them, why not go to the doctor's office several times a month? Why not get a "free" prescription for over-the-counter medication such as Tylenol?
The current U.S. half socialism/half free-market healthcare system also decreases incentives to "shop around." If you are paying a set amount per month and your copay is ten dollars per office visit no matter where you go, why bother to look for a better price? Government imposed wage controls during the 1940's are partially to blame for this current state of affairs. Unable to offer competitive salaries, companies started to offer healthcare benefits as a way to lure prospective employees into jobs
Destroys physician incentives to provide competitive care and destroys drug companies' incentives to provide new drugs and treatments. With no competition and with a constant assurance of taxpayer money, providers and companies become unresponsive to peoples' needs and wants. Think of the U.S. Post Office or the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Steals from your wallet to pay for my health care. All "free" medical care is paid for through taxes stolen from other people. I’ve heard of one seemingly healthy individual who went to his physician's office 51 times in 26 months. He receives "free" health care from the State, so his trips did not cost him a dime. Who pays for his medications? Who pays for the physicians', nurses' and office staff wages during his visits?
Destroys your privacy. Suddenly your problems are mine and mine are yours. If you are eating unhealthy foods or go skydiving, I have a direct interest in your business - you are going to see a doctor on my paycheck. Your neighbors might support government bans on smoking, "unsafe" sex or other "risky" behaviors to reduce costs.
