Socialized Medicine: A Good Plan?

One of the main topics that is being debated at this time is whether our nation should have universal healthcare or not. This is being brought up on a daily basis due to the presidential election coming up in November. Many politicians debate that if the United States gained this universal policy, everyone would have the same “great” coverage. They compare it to the benefits of England’s National Health Service, yet they do not show the cons of this plan. Many say that our nation should enforce this plan because the majority of our citizens are in favor of it, but what about the minority?
Reading Guinier’s “The Tyranny of the Majority” made me realize how much the majority population can hold control over the minority. When the government decides to side with the majority and take control of the healthcare aspect of our lives, our country will slowly become a socialist one. We are now a democracy where our ideas and beliefs are being represented by elected individuals. When the majority wins and the minority’s voice is suppressed, we will become more of a socialist country where social and political aspects of our life are being controlled primarily by the government.
Even though I believe that everyone should have a basic healthcare insurance policy in case of emergency, I still believe that everyone should have a right to choose whether or not they want a private healthcare policy. This is very similar when choosing between a community college, state university, and a private university. A person should be able to choose which college he or she wants to go to without having to be pressured by the government. Many can argue that a lot of people cannot afford private universities, but there are many alternatives such as loans and federal grants that help students pay for college. Also in the medical world, there are many charities and foundations that help people pay off their medical bills.
When the government becomes somehow like a tyrant when it takes control of everything. Healthcare in England is being dominated by the government, and it has many downfalls. It also has many benefits, but they are stated without having people look at the negatives also. For example, a study funded by the department of health in England shows that one in five patients that undergo a heart bypass surgery operation do not receive the best healthcare quality possible. Also, many patients die without having been told by their doctors that they were at risk of losing their life, or because they have been on the waiting list for too long.
Another report published by the National Audit Office and Commission states that the NHS is in a huge amount of debt. This is due to the financial management of the NHS. A balance must be put in place in order to manage the NHS financially. The United States is already in a huge amount of debt due to things such as the Iraqi war. For example, the Congressional Budget Office projects that the United States is in a $1.4 trillion deficit from 2004 to 2013. We do not need to put ourselves in a greater amount of debt at the time being.
Socialized medicine is not the best way to tackle the health care problem we have in our country. We do not need our government to be more involved in our daily lives, and we should look at England as a model for this plan and see how it is not good for our country. The majority should not always dominate because many others will have their opinions suppressed, and that is not democratic at all.




I found this article very interesting:

http://www.liberty-page.com/issues/healthcare/ukheartdelay2.html