Think about a government run healthcare program for a moment. What if the country said sayonara to the current insurance providers as they are and went with a totally universal program. The savings to taxpayers and businesses would be huge.
Talking about such a massive sized program saving us doesn’t seem very logical, but think about what would happen. We wouldn’t need all these big insurance providers. That means we wouldn’t need all the big executive salaries or perks. The billions spent for other things, such as advertising, would also be nonexistence.
Now I know people are thinking “how do we pay for such a massive government program”, and the answer is simple – taxes. It wouldn’t be that big of an increase per person and business, and people would actually end up saving in the long run from the items I pointed out above.
Still not convinced? Well what if I told you that an average family who is insured is already paying $1,000 in “taxes” per year because of the uninsured. Just check out this latest find:
The average family with health insurance shells out an extra $1,000 a year in premiums to pay for health care for the uninsured, a new report finds.
And the average individual with private coverage pays an extra $370 a year because of the cost-shifting, which happens when someone without medical insurance gets care at an emergency room or elsewhere and then doesn’t pay.
So if you make $100,000 a year and have a family policy then you are already paying a 10% tax for the current system. If you are only making $50,000 a year then it’s a 20% tax. This tax rate is even higher for businesses.
But it doesn’t stop there. Something the report doesn’t include is the cost of prescriptions. All the major drug manufacturers have programs to supply medicine to certain demographics, such as the poor, for free. Now we are all smart people and we understand that there really isn’t anything for free, so that means these manufacturers are making up the costs elsewhere, and that means by passing it on to the actual consumer.
Sadly I think the argument for universal coverage is being lost. The Republicans are declaring it some sort of “socialism”, but in fact they are advocating for a high tax rate for the insured and business.
So what I would like to see is someone in Congress come out and speak the plain truth. Tell everyone we need a true universal program. If the insurance companies want to continue to be in business then they can offer extra insurance coverage. This is the kind of radical change our nation really needs in order to compete in a 21st century economy.