A Comparison and Some National Healthcare Questions

by Thomas Noffsinger on June 26, 2010

The debate over national healthcare is being discussed throughout the country in town hall meetings from coast to coast this month of August, as congress is in summer recess. It made me think of a personal comparison I have between our healthcare system and what we can find in Canada.

Sometime in mid-October of 2008, I managed to injure my left shoulder in an accident while doing some work at home. I was moving some boxes that I had stored in my garage and I stumbled over something. In the process I managed to catch my fall by stretching my left hand out to the wall. My hand grasped the wall, but the momentum kept my body moving forward. The result was very painful as I forced my arm and shoulder back into an unnatural position.

Now, I’m not the type person that runs to the doctor whenever I get a headache or upset stomach. I did some self-administered first-aid immediately and returned to work on Monday. Luckily, for me it had happened early on Saturday morning, so I had the week-end to take it easy. I thought, that if I just took it easy I would heal in time, you know – body heal thyself. Needless to say, that didn’t happen. I called for a doctor’s appointment.

When I was examined by my doctor, he decided to send me to a specialist. He thought it might be a torn rotator cuff. After having an MRI scan a few days later, I returned to the specialist and he advised me I could have surgery or do some physical therapy that might help. I decided that therapy was the route to take. I had therapy 2-3 times a week for several weeks then was left on my own to continue the therapy exercises I had been taught. To this day I haven’t had any surgery.

Unknown to me at the time and not for about a month after my injury had occurred , I learned that a Canadian , I’ll call him Bill, working for the same company as myself, had suffered the same injury about the same time as mine. When I asked about him and what he was doing about it, his supervisor told me that he was on the waiting list for an MRI test. He told me that it wasn’t scheduled until mid-January 2009. To make a long story short, the essence of this story is: by the time Bill had his MRI test, I had seen my regular doctor, been to a specialist (an orthopedic), had an MRI test, back to the specialist and started on and was about half way or more through my physical therapy sessions at the doctor’s office.

Recently, I ran into a coworker of Bill’s and asked him about Bill. He told me that Bill finally returned to work about the end of this June or first part of July. Also, that he had hated every minute of the time off. I had expressed to my doctor that I didn’t want any restrictions placed on me and continued working after the injury. I don’t believe that was a choice for Bill.

Now, one could say, but his healthcare was provided by the government and therefore free, mine wasn’t free. Oh really? It’s true, I had to pay a copay each time I went to see a doctor and each time I had a physical therapy session. However, the copay was reasonable and affordable and worth the cost to me. Is his healthcare really free? Wonder what he pays in income taxes compared to me. All the waiting time he had to experience, was amazing to me.

Some questions that could be considered when discussing national healthcare might be the following:

If something is working why change it?

If something has some things that need to be reformed, then why not address those places for reform instead of establishing a whole new national healthcare system run by the government?

If there is so many millions of people without healthcare, why not establish some form of national healthcare for them and leave the majority of people who are satisfied with their healthcare alone?

If government takes over with national healthcare, one might ask, when has government ever ran anything that has ever worked?

Has government monopoly on anything ever proved to be cost efficient?

Can the healthcare insurance industry compete against government?

If a national healthcare system, Obamacare, is so great, then why has congress, Democrats, voted that they do not have to participate in a national healthcare system?

Do you want another federal bureau run by another czar or czarina, unanswerable to “we the people”, making healthcare decisions about you and your family?

Or

Do you want to have the power with your chosen doctor/doctors concerning decisions about your health and not have some government bureaucrat getting between you and your doctor?

Do you want to have a loved one turned down by a government bureaucracy for treatment, because they are too old for that treatment, because the government figures it’s not cost efficient?

What about the possibility of rationing with national healthcare?

What about the issue of research and development? Would there be any incentives for research and development by the medical profession or by pharmaceutical companies if the federal government was running national healthcare?

Do you trust the government to take care of your healthcare needs?

Can we really afford a trillion dollars or more in government spending on national healthcare?

Do we really want government to take care of us from cradle to grave? Or do we want government to leave us alone and let us take care of ourselves?

These are some questions that might be pondered on and some that might be asked at town hall meetings that are taking place this month throughout the country.

I’m no expert on this issue of national healthcare. I don’t have all the answers to the questions. I do listen and read as much as I can to the debate. I believe in limited government and personal responsibility. I don’t believe that government should be the answer to all the problems we as Americans face. I don’t want my government to turn into the nanny state. I have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, however I define that to be. I want government to protect these things for me, not define what they are for me.

Perhaps national healthcare is not about national healthcare. Instead, maybe, it’s more about more government power, what do you think? I think, the more powerful government becomes the more liberty and freedom “we the people” lose, do you agree? If you agree with that, then would you agree that once lost, it would be almost impossible to regain that liberty and freedom? Perhaps establishing national healthcare is another step by the Obama Administration in changing this country into The U.S.S.A. – The United Socialist States of America – “…change we can believe in…” Right!?

I invite you to view my blog at: http://www.politicalthoughts-libertytom.blogspot.com
Tom Noffsinger aka Liberty Tom.

Author: Thomas Noffsinger
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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