Universal Health Care

Imagine waiting two to three years for a routine hip or knee replacment, or being an 8 year old child who has a serious health issue but not being able to receive proper health care due to inadequate or no insurance. Many people in America can not afford health insurance and face issues worse than this on a daily basis. Problems like these are issues that politicians are constantly working to come up with a solution to. One of the proposed solutions is universal healthcare. I will elaborate in the following paragraphs on why I think it is not the right answer.

One of the biggest reasons against universal healthcare is the simple fact that the government would be in charge of it. This would include the same offices that currently run places such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Education, and Social Security. No government office can force the same amount of productivity out of each dollar that the private sector can. Everyone has been witness to the enormous lines at the DMV. The annual budget for 2007 California DMV is $908 million, and increases yearly. In comparison, the tasks the DMV has are nothing as to how complex a government run medical system would be.

The private sector has more rewards to the individual for striving to be better in their respective field. A government employee generally has less of a reward for performing their job above par. Usually, they have a set schedule and do not get paid over-time or receive bonuses and promotions for a job well done. Government employees have extremely good job security where as in the private sector people have to constantly perform in order to keep their jobs because of competition and businesses that worry about their costs. Many government jobs take off for every holiday, and generally get more time off for each holiday. Private business owners often will be open on holidays or take less time off, because time is money. With the government in charge of everything under one health plan, it would seem to be utopian in idea. What would happen with certain surgeries that are considered to be "elective", though? Surgeries such as removing warts, breast reduction, and plastic surgery for someone who has been in an accident would be considered elective. Who would get to decide which surgeries are needed and which are not? If the government is involved with something, that means that politics are also involved. That is one recipe for disaster, especially with something as immediate and important as health care, there would be no time to delay or have "grey areas". With the government in control of health care, they will also put more regulations on doctor's procedures and add more stringent guidelines on a timetable for events to occur before allowing doctors to order expensive tests for patients. With medical care, the sooner the better is what we are always taught, and waiting on a bureaucracy is the worst obstacle to have in place when it comes to personal health.