post-war Swiss technology; a procedure not covered by American health
insurance, since death is considered a "pre-existing condition".
I hope this finds you well, my friends.
Forgive my lack of posts, gentle readers, as I believe I have stumbled across the Mother of All American Fears. Unbelievably, the fear is rooted in the idea of national health care. I know what you are probably thinking; there are two kinds of countries on this earth, the kind that have national health care and the kind that can't afford national health care. Oh my friends, wouldn't the citizens of Burundi be as happy as clams if they could partake in the same quality of health care as the average European?
Now at this time, the only Western industrialized nation that can afford a national health care plan and does not have one is the United States. It is hard for people of other nations to understand why this is so and I'm afraid, my friends that a simple explanation may be too simple. Here is my best attempt: You see, it is an American ideal (and hope) that the invisible hand of the free market will right all wrongs in a free society. They believe (and hope) that private companies should be able to provide medical insurance to anyone who needs it. The US government mandated that any employers are responsible for the health of their employees and thus, must provide them with suitable health care.
The US solution provided the opportunity for companies to compete for better employees by offering better health care options, provided a guaranteed market for health insurance companies and a steady flow of insured patients to the nation's medical practices. The US government then picked up the tab for its elderly, veterans, or terminally unemployable citizens with programs like Medicade, Medicare, etc.
Like any system, there are cracks in the American system and the cracks are very very large. People who are unemployed or underemployed do not have health insurance. People who have what is called a 'pre-existing condition' are not eligible for health insurance for any reason. Sick children or whose parents have lost their jobs can become permanently uninsured and ineligible for health care for the rest of their lives. Uninsured Americans number in the millions.
| Fresh American tragedies occur daily where people die because of lack of health care due to lack of health care insurance. Why oh why, my friends, do they continue to fear the threat of having a national health care program? |
Let me count the ways:
- Death Panels: Americans believe that under a national health care program, old Americans will be put out to pasture to die. Many older Americans are already the beneficiaries of a national health care program, but they still believe this.
- Socialism: Twenty years ago, Americans feared communism (and spiders) above all other things. After health care, it seems that socialism is the next biggest hobgoblin to capture America's frightened imagination.
- Insurance Companies Will Die!!!: For some reason, Americans are concerned that private insurance companies will not be able to compete with a public option. They have survived in every country with a public option, but Americans believe that their insurance companies will not. Americans really love their insurance companies.
- Abortion: Americans are still engaged in a debate over the legality of abortion.
- Long Waiting Lines: Americans actually fear that *if* their government might somehow institute a health care program. By morning, they would be forced into long lines to wait for medical procedures... and bread, exactly like what they believe is happening in every other country on earth (note: this does not happen).
- The Cost: Many Americans believe that the country can't afford a health care program. There is only one thing you can say to this; LOL!
As of the time of this writing, my friends I believe that the American Congress has long since killed any chance that Americans will have national health care in the lifetimes of anyone reading this blog. Their government simply does not work in a way that allows them to change domestic policy. One has to admire those who committed political suicide in that country to try, only to be compared with Stalin, Hitler, or anyone else in the world who has ever been bad.
Stay healthy my friends,
Sir Robyn
