Fixing U.S. Healthcare

Americans value life. This even extends to individuals who cannot or otherwise will not provide for their own safety and health. Because of this, most of us agree that the most basic health care needs should be available to people who can’t afford it. What Americans have been doing for a while now is treating people who need to be treated and handing the bill to middle and upper class citizens who pay through higher taxes, higher insurance premiums and higher healthcare costs.

Democrats want to reduce the number of uninsured by increasing the taxes and the size, scope and power of the government. This does not address the core problem, and in fact it creates more.

My moral compass requires that I admit we must care for those who cannot or will not care for themselves – but we can be doing so at a far lower cost.

Imagine a scenario: State and Federal “urgent care” facilities operating in low-income areas, and “public wings” added to private hospitals for over-night and intensive care. Their equipment is outdated, medicine less effective and amenities less comfortable. They are staffed by volunteers, interns and one or two head doctors who are paid a discounted rate for their services. Patients who use these facilities do so because they can’t afford all of the luxuries of a private facility, but need the basic care and are willing to accept the risks and discomforts involved. The doctors and nurses at these facilities are protected by stronger medical malpractice suits, and literally no insurance is required for those who come in.

“Isn’t this just government healthcare to the max?” you might ask. No. Given the choice, anyone who could afford a visit to a private hospital would do so. Immediately, there’s a means-tested approach to low-income healthcare that would lower the cost of insurance and lower taxes, by lowering the cost of serving those who can’t serve themselves.