Why Universal Healthcare is not a great idea!

Did anyone hit the Trifecta at the Belmont Stakes?  Did anyone see the big white wet spot under the saddle of Big Brown after the race?  Oddly, no one
won that Trifecta…it was paying over $3709 bucks for a $2 dollar bet.  Is horse racing fixed?  Who knows?  To paraphrase Sonny Corelone in Godfather 1, “There’s a lot of money in horse racing Pop!”

Well, there is a tremendous amount of money in making the choice of any nation to offer Universal Heathcare.  So far, the Hillary plan of forcing every man, woman and child to pay a Federal Premium for Nationalized Healthcare has been put on the back burner.  Obama and McCain are touting those less invasive plans…which just includes Government assistance to families that cannot afford the Premiums!

Should a single mom that works at Wal-Mart have some form of Healthcare for herself and three kids? You can bet that both candidates are going to “say” that they want to help…Mr. or Mrs. America get that very important protection for their families at affordable rates!  Do they really mean that? Maybe!

Let’s just take a long look at what is going to happen if we do double the demand for healthcare in America.  First of all, if we are waiting for service now…we can expect waits that are twice as long. Adding 47 Million people either overnight or even in a phased pattern is guaranteed to overwhelm the  system.  Too many people trying access too few facilities. We don’t have the
trained staff now…as could be seen in Los Angeles at King/Harbor Hospital. There will be many hospitals that will simply we inundated for three to five years!  Then, what about the Insurance Companies that have to move the funds to these facilities from the people to Government to the Insurance Company and then to the final Medical Providers.

What about the various forms of Fraud?  What about those people without proper identification or that are afraid to use their “real name” because of some disease that might threaten their job or work or home environment?

Most importantly, we have historic references to draw from to understand what will happen to the cost of this so-called Universal Healthcare.  Hey, remember mandatory Car Insurance?  Remember the 15 years of higher accelerating annual rates until a median price could be found for each group
that either lived in the wrong place, had the wrong auto or was the wrong age? What can we expect these kind and loving Medical Insurance Companies to do in this regard?  What happens when DNA testing will be a requirement to get healthcare?  What happens when “the Government” takes it upon themselves’ to either price all of us out of the market or simply deny access because someone won’t provide their DNA Sample?  Will the Fed Healthcare Premium come out of our weekly paycheck?  What happens when that mom with three kids refuses to pay?

The harsh reality is that their are only so many MRI and CAT Scan machines. Within two to five years they become “obsolete” and need to be replaced by more efficient and less radiating models.  What happens to those old and tired machines? Do we send them to Spain?  Who uses them?  Are they safe? What then happens when your family doctor needs to see 40 patients a day? What level of bedside manner do you believe he will be capable of giving in three years? What will happen is that healthcare will become “Tricorderized”. Remember “Bones” from Star Trek?  Leonard carried his trusty “Tricorder” to diagnose every alien in the star system. There is little doubt…that seeing
a “real doctor or real nurse” will not be possible in a world that requires that “everyone has Health Insurance.

“In 1969, while traveling in Spain…I came down with a case of the German Measles. I had no clue of what it  was at the time.  A desperate fever and bright red spots all over my back, arms and legs.  In the beach village
of Sitges was a Red Cross horse drawn cart. The “Medico” first took my temperature and told me in broken English that I needed to go to the big hospital in Barcelona.  When I got to the Hospital several hours later, near delirium they put me at the head of the line of over a 1000 people, because I was a tourist from the U.S. After 45 minutes in a cold white, empty exam room …I decided to leave and die in France rather than Spain.  As I  walked out and down the long walkway out of the hospital – a lady sat by the wall with her hands out begging with a dead baby in her lap! I was two days later diagnosed with German Measles in Cannes, France!” – Story by Ron Winship

Spain has always had “Universal Healthcare!” since the days of Franco and King Juan Carlos!  Let us hope upon hope that our two U.S. Presidential Candidates in 2008 will understand that there can be no quick fix to the
U.S. Healthcare System.  It will take many years of infrastructure development and many more years of replacing bad or worn out medical equipment.

What we probably need are a plethora of Government Grants for those in the Private Health Industry that want to build or occupy Office Space that then provides our Healthcare!  The Fraud will be immense!  The effectiveness
…..less than responsible. The change from Personal Doctor Care to Medical Machines that make diagnoses…will take some getting used to.  We need to start now with that research and development, so that in 10 years it will be considered a “Regular Health Assessment”.

“Sell it to the Government..hell, they’ll buy anything!” was attributed to some Senator back in the 1930’s after FDR unleashed his Socialist Programs to Save America!  Let us hope this is not the harbinger of what Americans can expect for their Universal Healthcare!

So, what do you think?  Was Big Brown doped, so that he could not win the Belmont?   We will have to ask someone that knows “The Godfather” to find out!   When you watch the tape….Big Brown had an odd gate compared to all
the other horses in the race…did you see that?  Was the Jockey responsible?  We just need a Doctor called “Bones” with a “Tricorder” to know the truth!