Socialized Medicine? Good, Bad, or Indifferent?

Introduction

I know that a lot of people are getting tired of talking about Nationalized Health Care, but that in part is the plan from the political left. The fewer people care the more will get through the Congress without a fight. Back in the 1980’s while preaching in a small church in East Texas I went to lunch with a deacon and his wife. The woman told me a story which to this day makes me think and rethink all that our government does. She told me how that her dad had worked for years for a large company and retired in 1960. Part of the retirement package was a very nice health coverage plan which he had paid into for years. Her father died suddenly and left her mother widowed. However she was able to receive the benefits from her husband’s (this woman’s father) pension and retirement plan, which of course included the health coverage. Her mom was a stay at home wife which was pretty typical back in those days. So she went out found a small part time job which basically helped ends meet and helped her secure Social Security. She retired in 1964. Boy what a carrier. When she retired all of the benefits continued to come in and with the house paid off she was thought to be looking at living a fairly comfortable life that is until 1965. In 1965 Medicare was passed and everyone over 65 was forced to join, which is still the law (http://www.accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=2045 ). At that time if you had any health insurance you were forced to give it up which caused thousands to suffer. This woman was no different. Because of the passing and implementation of this law her health coverage changed dramatically and so did her health. She passed away as a result of complications in 1967 while waiting for a doctor to confirm that a specialist could see her.

That was then, now it is much different. Thanks to Ronald Reagan and other conservatives many of these issues were changed. One of the things which they changed was the idea that private insurance company policies could be bought to move along side Medicare and help strengthen the medical care of our nation’s seniors. My own father benefited from this when in 2002 he suffered a heart attack. If this had been an unreformed Medicare system I may not be talking about how I love my dad, but be saying how I loved my dad.
As a side note a funny thing happened to a former pastor and friend who forgot to apply for Medicare when he turned 65 and did it when he turned 67. He now has to pay 10 dollars a month for the rest of his life as a penalty charge for forgetting. He’s nearing 85.

The key to the Medicare situation is that it is forced on those 65 and older. While initially it appeared to be a good idea and thanks to some of the reforms on it since the 1980’s it has turned out to be very helpful, in the long run it has drained us of more than the our future financially, but it has drained us of our moral obligations as well. I in no way oppose the government helping those needing help or even offering Medicare to those who need it, but to force some into it is a different story.

Today we are focusing in on the issue of a National Health Care policy. I personally believe that while any laws which will come out of Congress and signed by the President will not initially say you have to take this, it will over time. Socialism works like that. In a speech in 1961 while speaking at the Operation Coffee Cup Campaign against Socialized Medicine, Ronald Reagan stated that back in 1927 an American socialist, Norman Thomas, six times candidate for president on the Socialist Party ticket said that Americans would never vote for Socialism but under the title of Liberalism they would almost always vote on anything (www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdLpem-AAs&feature=related ). It is the issue of being forced to participate which is contrary to human freedom what our nation was founded on.

What In The World Is Going On?

I believe that in the 1920’s there was a cultural and philosophical shift which took place. Our nation became more concerned with the here and now rather than the future. Before hand people would think about what they could leave behind as far as a legacy for their children. But in the 1920s and especially with the Depression of the 1930s this thought began to change. It became more of a dream of selfism than a dream of the future. Suddenly seniors expected their children to take care of them rather than building toward the future and leaving something for the next generation. While the expectation was not wrong, and the Bible calls for us to take care of our elders, it does not declare it by mandate. It is a choice and one which should be done. However this shift is what lead to the Social Security System and later to Medicare/Medicaid, which we are all forced to pay into and which is about to go bankrupt. I refer you to my six part series on The Cult of Selfism and Postmodernism in the month of May, 2008.

Why The Need?

This would seem to be the question. If we listen to those who want national healthcare the story always follows that there are 46 million Americans without health insurance (http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/columnist/strauss/2009-07-26-obama-health-plan-small-business_N.htm ) and that 6 million a year are loosing their insurance everyday (www.nchc.org/facts/coverage.shtml ). However what they fail to tell us is that in August of 2008 while things had been going down hill before the October crashes, the uninsured rate was falling. But don’t get too excited with the news because the stats will tell us that it is primarily because families took advantage of federal subsidized insurance for children (http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2008/08/26/number-of-uninsured-americans-drops.html ). That still does not prove anything either way. Of those 46 million, 15 million are an estimated to be illegal immigrants who should not be here to begin with. This means that the real issue regarding healthcare is an immigration policy matter, not healthcare issue (http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/07/20/daily34.html ). Of the remaining 31 million there are 44% or 13,640,000 of those who are uninsured by choice. This means 1 in 4 (3,410,000) of those are eligible for Medicare but don’t take it. The remaining 10,230,000 are under 35 years of age and make in excess of $58,000 dollars a year but feel that they don’t need it (http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/uninsured-by-choice/ -This blog links to the study by the Urban Institute.). That leaves 17,360,000 who are not insured for various reasons, most of which is a group whose employers are too small and cannot afford low cost health insurance. So let’s say that the number stands between 15 million and 17 million, it’s still a large number. But comparatively it is less than 1% of the population.

What’s The Threat?

The problem with what is being instigated, yes I used that word, is that it is not about medicine. It is not about money, which is the reason nobody seems to care about the cost. It is not about insurance, because our government has already shown signs of not caring about real coverage. It’s about power. Power to tell you and me what to do and how we should live allowing no freedom in our decision making. I have a friend who I love to talk to from the former communist nation of Romania. He tells stories about how the communist/socialists constantly controlled how people lived and what they were to believe. ObamaCare as it has been affectionately named reeks with the smell of Nazi Germany in 1933. They didn’t just jump to killing and executing Jews. No it took awhile. They started with the mentally handicapped and moved to the mentally disturbed. From there they moved to the terminally ill and then to the elderly. Abortion was free on demand and often preformed for those of other races with governmental assistance. In 1937 and the invasion of Poland the Nazi’s began to quietly and secretly kill the Jewish population. In fact it was carried out so secretly that for a sometime the Jewish population themselves did not know it was happening until pictures started showing up.

Socialized healthcare will start out quiet. First, you’ll be told that you can’t go to the doctor for a cold. Then you’ll be told that only emergencies can be covered. Afterward you’ll only be covered in worse case situation and at that point it won’t matter. It will lead to them not giving you the best care in the worse moments. They will allow you to slowly die away. While that may seem crazy go online and see how many stories you can pull up of these situations going on in Canada and Great Britain. There are so many of them out on the web from solid sources that I don’t even have to sight them.

Are There Any Answers?

So since we are talking about less than 1% of the population should we just simply walk away? I don’t think so. My Biblical worldview says otherwise. However I don’t think that Socialize Medical care is the idea either. For one thing place yourself in the situation with those who aren’t insured and cannot help but be the victims of their circumstances. So, what should be doing?

There are several things which can be done. First, weed out those who can be covered verses those who cannot get coverage. Second, fix the illegal immigration issue. As long as that goes on over 15 million people will continue to suck the life out of our social system. Third, go to those who are eligible for Medicare and make sure they understand they are eligible. Find out if there is abuse or fraud going on which may not be allowing them to get the coverage. Fourth, have employers who can provide insurance to workers do training to discuss the dangers the voluntary uninsured face. Fifth, open up the laws regarding co-op programs so that small businesses which do similar kinds of business operations can come together in associations and bid on insurance policies that larger companies are allowed to do. Sixth, that may leave in the neighborhood about 10 million people who are not or cannot be insured. Based on the situation, some kind of governmental assistant plan may need to be developed which will cover these people for a limited time. The limited time would be based on the idea that they would seek out work and find insurance under an employer. Last, families need to return to the duty of lovingly caring for aging parents, handicapped members, and critically ill persons. If the families alone were involved in the medical/insurance situation then, if any assistance were needed, it would be held to minimum. Nothing means more to those in medical situations than the loving, caring hearts and hands of family.

The key to this all is that no matter what, no one should ever be denied health care especially in emergency and life/death illnesses. As a part of the Hippocratic Oath physicians should help patients no matter what. Health care, when available, is a human’s rights issue. As Jesus said in Luke 12:48, “…From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.” (NASB) The point is that it should never be a forced issue on doctors, patients or insurance companies. There is always the point of conscience.