Name: Anonymous 2007-01-28 13:01
The problem with even a deregulated capitalist health care system is that a capitalist health care system wants to make money. The system itself isn't interested in a population of healthy individuals. A capitalist health care system loves unnecessary procedures, drugs, operations(as long as they don't get them sued, but there's malpractice insurance for that). A capitalist health care system loves drugs that prolong their illnesses, because they have to sell more of them. A capitalist health care system loves things like routine circumcision, because they get paid for each operation. A capitalist health care system will do anything that gives them profit, and, contrary to what some people seem to think, profit often doesn't have anything to do with raising the quality of life of anyone but the side profiting.
Meanwhile, a socialist health care system wants people to be healthy. It would love a cheap, one-shot procedure that cures a disease utterly(something that is likely never to come again out of a capitalist health care system) It wants people to be healthy, and it is encouraged to improve itself not just to keep the public's faith, but to increase efficiency and reduce costs(the opposite of a private health care system).
Of course, if these measures aren't enough to reduce costs, then a socialist health care system will have to
do more, infringing on our god-given right to kill ourselves slowly and painfully. It might even be tempted
to kill off unhealthy people rather than treat them. There's also the problem that building hospitals costs money too, and increasing capacity means there will be more patients who need treatment, decreasing the likelihood that it will get done.
Now, private health care, being motivated by making money, has..well..money. No surprise there. The trick lies in getting benefits of socialism(health care driven to benefit the individual) along with the benefits of capitalism(Moneys, yay!), with as few of their problems as possible.
Now, the majority of the health industry's income comes from two things, insurance companies, and drug money. Insurance companies are capitalism's version of socialized health care. Only they're actually stealing money, because they're out to keep as much of it as they can.(Arr) So we're already ahead on that one. So how do we pull in the income that you can only get from legalized exorbitantly priced and aggressively marketed drugs?
No, seriously, how. Drug companies are fucking evil masterminds.
Well, having the taxes that come from smoking, drinking, and using other unhealthy drugs go toward the system that researches and treats the problems that come from them is a nice start, and makes perfect sense even by a capitalistic standpoint. Raising the taxes to a point where the people who demand them can't use them would just be utterly foolish.
But that's probably not enough, and you'll still have the rich people who think they deserve better, and will continue to give private health care a market. As well, new technology costs money to implement, and so does increasing the capacity of the institution itself. Well, why not allow people to make their own donations? Rich folk can buy their local hospital an extra wing or two, new equipment, whatever they need, and in addition to a nice charitable tax writeoff, they get to help ensure their future health, as they'll be more likely to trust a place they've invested in. Woohoo. Everybody wins.
Meanwhile, a socialist health care system wants people to be healthy. It would love a cheap, one-shot procedure that cures a disease utterly(something that is likely never to come again out of a capitalist health care system) It wants people to be healthy, and it is encouraged to improve itself not just to keep the public's faith, but to increase efficiency and reduce costs(the opposite of a private health care system).
Of course, if these measures aren't enough to reduce costs, then a socialist health care system will have to
do more, infringing on our god-given right to kill ourselves slowly and painfully. It might even be tempted
to kill off unhealthy people rather than treat them. There's also the problem that building hospitals costs money too, and increasing capacity means there will be more patients who need treatment, decreasing the likelihood that it will get done.
Now, private health care, being motivated by making money, has..well..money. No surprise there. The trick lies in getting benefits of socialism(health care driven to benefit the individual) along with the benefits of capitalism(Moneys, yay!), with as few of their problems as possible.
Now, the majority of the health industry's income comes from two things, insurance companies, and drug money. Insurance companies are capitalism's version of socialized health care. Only they're actually stealing money, because they're out to keep as much of it as they can.(Arr) So we're already ahead on that one. So how do we pull in the income that you can only get from legalized exorbitantly priced and aggressively marketed drugs?
No, seriously, how. Drug companies are fucking evil masterminds.
Well, having the taxes that come from smoking, drinking, and using other unhealthy drugs go toward the system that researches and treats the problems that come from them is a nice start, and makes perfect sense even by a capitalistic standpoint. Raising the taxes to a point where the people who demand them can't use them would just be utterly foolish.
But that's probably not enough, and you'll still have the rich people who think they deserve better, and will continue to give private health care a market. As well, new technology costs money to implement, and so does increasing the capacity of the institution itself. Well, why not allow people to make their own donations? Rich folk can buy their local hospital an extra wing or two, new equipment, whatever they need, and in addition to a nice charitable tax writeoff, they get to help ensure their future health, as they'll be more likely to trust a place they've invested in. Woohoo. Everybody wins.