Geez, I don’t know, it kinda sounds like a good idea sometimes, right?
Ever been so hopelessly, helplessly sick that you could only depend on others? Ever had no one else to rely on? Or only people who themselves are too poor to really help?
Ever wonder what we could do as a society to make sure that people aren’t suffering and dying of curable ills just because they’re poor?
Well, so what about “single-payer,” or “Medicare for all”? I mean it’s not full-communism socialized healthcare where every doctor is a government employee holding your health over you like another gun in his holster-belt, right?
Well there’s a problem. Just like with all sorts of “privatizations” in the economy, such as vouchers for private schools, what happens is market forces and businesses become corrupted by perverse incentives. Even though it sort-of seems like you’re the customer, in fact, he who pays the piper calls the tune. So while the debit card may be in your hand, the money still comes from the state, and it’s their priorities that are parmount.
Just read about this family’s nightmare in dealing with Florida Medicaid. They’ve had to flee the state in search of better healthcare, convinced as they were that Medicaid was “killing” their tiny helpless daughter.
Siren songs sound nice sometimes. Society making sure that poor and sick people are not simply left helplessly to die or suffer otherwise avoidable permanent injuries should be and remain the highest priority of civilization, but government just doesn’t work.
