My views on Healthcare and government's role

Well folks, time to read my opinion on healthcare.

I am against a national healthcare program, or universal healthcare, as it is often referred to by its proponents.

Those who want to nationalize the healthcare industry in this great nation of ours often say, "America is the only nation in the industrialized world that does not provide healthcare to all of its citizens." Ok. And??

Health insurance is often what they are referring to when they say healthcare. And for some in the Democratic party, people having health insurance isn't good enough. They say premiums and deductibles are too high. The solution: Get everyone in a government program for it. Raise taxes through the ceiling to do it, too.

For one thing, health insurance is not a God-given right. The only right you have vis-a-vis health insurance is to work at a job so you can afford the monthly premiums. If it means an extra 4 or 5 hours a month to pay for it, you do what you gotta do.

Secondly, there are good reasons why healthcare costs are high: (1) People do not prioritize with their finances. I see it everyday in my line of work. They'd rather have a plasma tv or a new car with $400 a month payments than have life insurance, so if they die then their kids and spouse are screwed. So of course health insurance isn't much higher up on the priority list for such people. (2) We in America have become addicted through "Jobs with benefits." I have a full time job, and I do not utilize the health insurance they offer me. I have my own plan through Humana outside my work. It is a zero prescription deductible with a high everything-else deductible, so my premiums are low ($90 a month) and I save a little in a money market account that pays 5%, so when something comes up, I'll have enough for the $2500 deductible. Which brings me to my last point: (3) Nobody saves in this country for ANYTHING. In 2005 the national savings rate fell to - 0.5%. Nobody saves independently to pay for health expenses. So they use low-deductible health insurance plans for every possible thing that goes wrong. That's what's wrong with the health system in this country. People get cheap insurance through their work, they don't shop around and compare plans, and they don't save a dime for anything.

It's like Jon Stossel of 20/20 pointed out: Imagine if you had grocery insurance, and you used grocery insurance to buy your groceries every week. You'd be eating steak and lobster everyday. And of course costs keep going up because you just say, "well, my insurance will cover it." So what do you think the doctors do? Raise the costs and charge what they want. After all, it has no huge impact on your wallet, so you don't care. Isn't the point of insurance to protect you in case something adverse happens to you? Not to be a budget/treasury for routine things. But that's exactly what people use health insurance for. It's not in case some infection or disease or cancer comes about. It's so they can pay only $20 for a routine doctor visit.

My solution: Take the employer OUT of the healthcare system. Americans need to start shopping around for insurance on their own. Then the companies would really have to compete on price to win your business. And you would make more conservative decisions on things. You'd actually ask yourself, "Do I really need to have this done?" You'd get on a higher deductible plan, which would save you on premiums per month, and you'd save in a separate savings account for the times when you need to pay that deductible. And you know what the greatest thing about having health insurance outside of your job would be?? If you changed jobs, you wouldn't have to wait to be eligible for health benefits. You'd always have insurance no matter what.