More commentary on the YouTube/CNN debates of the other night.
Now we move on to the health care industry. But the YouTube user who asks this question decided to get cheeky with it. This question blends two hot-button issues into one question, “would you plan cover undocumented workers.”
But the only real answer to this question points out an important concept of universal coverage which deserves more discussion, which I will add below the fold ->
Now, here’s the thing: forget about undocumented workers, specifically. If anyone from another county visits the U.S., slips on a patch of ice, falls and goes to the hospital, someone is going to have to pay for that. They’re not all going to have insurance, and even if they do, if it’s the type of insurance we have, it won’t cover diddly. I’m sure there are lots of other scenarios where non-citizens need health care.
The point is that the emergency care of uninsured people is precisely what is causing the problems we have in today’s health care system. This is one good reason why Mike Moore advocates single-payer systems: because one way or the other, if people get sick between our borders, it’s going to come back on us to pay for it, irrespective of the system we employ. That, of course, includes our current system.
So yes, any rational system will provide health care to anyone who needs it. And it is certainly worth noting that this is a major flaw in the Obama health care proposal, inasmuch as it does not mandate coverage, only provides it. The trouble with this plan is that while many people would happily seek out free health coverage, not all of them necessarily will. Irresponsible young adults, people with mental health issues, people with spiritual beliefs which may be at odds with modern health care; there are lots of people who might not seek out that health care, but if they get sick, we still pay their emergency medial expenses. Now, we’re right back where we began.
But declaring your health care system truly universal would be inviting Republican wolves in a presidential debate, wouldn’t it? You can hear the howling of the Anti-Immigration crowd now, claiming that we’ll have streams of new illegals coming over the border for health care. Well, guess what? They already are.
