An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings
Healthcare or Control?
Government should not run the system
By ROBIN SMITH
Health is a state we should all individually pursue and work to maintain.
Poor health befalls most of us over time requiring the utilization of medical services and interventions. Currently, there is a debate as to whether the government is the entity best equipped to meet individual health and medical needs.
In Tennessee, a well-intended program, TennCare, replaced the Medicaid program, meant to aid those who are disabled and financially unable to meet their health needs. TennCare lacked a residency requirement for almost a decade with rampant fraud with inclusion of those who would not have met the criteria for the Medicaid program. The bulging rolls consumed money taken from our children’s education, state highway funds and other programs in our state. TennCare patients were limited to only a few providers and hospitals.
Look at TennCare experience
Recently, “TennCare reforms” dumped some of the sickest individuals onto a frail safety net with the creation of a new state program to attempt to fill the gaps. This quick reminder of health care at the hands of the government serves as a rendering of the behemoth bureaucracy through which sick individuals will have to navigate to receive medical services.
Reports last week of hospitals in England turning sheets over rather than replacing with fresh laundry portray budget crises in a socialized medicine system. A Canadian doctor, interviewed last week, touted that his patients could get a CT scan in a day … he’s a veterinarian. Human patients typically wait 30 days to receive the same scan to assist in diagnostics and treatment.
Dr. David Gratzer, physician and Manhattan Institute fellow, published data in July 2007 reflecting outcomes comparisons of health treatments. Five-year cancer survival rates for leukemia are almost 50 percent in America, just 35 percent in Europe. Prostate cancer survival rates in America are 81.2 percent and 44.3 percent in England. Standardized treatments for diseases and illnesses such as these show outcomes favoring American medicine.
Proponents of universal health care speak of the longevity of Europeans at almost 77 years of life compared to 75 years of life in America. Unfortunately, lifestyle and dietary choices of Americans inflict more harm to individual health than most influences.
The solution to our health-care woes begins in our homes in making good selections of consumption, with turning the TV off and getting outside for a walk. The government needs to provide taxpayers a refundable tax credit to purchase an individual policy to meet their health needs and choices. For those who don’t pay income taxes due to income level are those who will qualify justly for the state and federal health programs that exist.
Americans select a cell phone and choose a plan to meet their individual needs. Why should the important decisions of choosing a health-care provider for you and your family along with the hospital where you want to be treated be made by the folks in Washington who are reporting that Social Security and Medicare is about to run out of money?!
Excellent question! (extra emphasis mine)
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