Governor Schwarzenegger might have an (R) by his name, but there is very little about him that is conservative. The latest example is his determination to have universal healthcare coverage.
I’m curious to hear what my liberal friends think about this idea. On the surface universal health coverage sounds like a beautiful thing. Poor families living in cardboard boxes can’t afford vital medicine for their 7 babies. They’re all dying from influenza and big evil health insurance companies won’t help them!
Please excuse my flair for the dramatic, but the above is far from reality. Liberals, like the Governor, see legislation like this as some magical fix. People don’t have healthcare/high wages/money? Well lets make a bill and give it to them, just like magic! Unfortunately that’s not how it works, here is why.
1) The Role of Government – Use your imagination and transport yourself to Philadelphia in 1787 at the Constitutional Convention. Next to you is Benjamin Franklin and a discussion on the different branches of government and balance of power has just finished. This important discussion on government power has just ended and you stand up to bring a new issue to the floor. You say "I think everyone should be able to go to the doctor, even if they can’t pay for it." Ben looks at you through his spectacles, and without skipping a breath, says "You, be quiet."
The government should not be regulating something like healthcare. Present-day liberals can bring it up and unfortunately people listen, but the founding fathers would have looked at you like you were a moron. As the role of government is expanded there is a snowball effect. If everyone should have healthcare, then how about everyone should have a toothbrush? Or everyone should have shoes? Or toilet paper? If you think it’s ridiculous for the government to concern itself with any of those items, then you should find it equally silly that it concern itself with universal health coverage.
2) The Cost – The problem with "magical" fixes like this is that they aren’t magic, and they cost real money. According to the article the Governor wants to spread the cost between "businesses, individuals, hospitals, doctors, insurers and government." The myth that it’s magic and free is just ridiculous, but I think most liberals will at least admit there is a cost. What I fail to understand is why they think it’s a justified cost. Why do liberals think the government should be able to take away money from the above listed groups for something the government shouldn’t be regulating anyways? Not to mention the negative effect this forced cost will have. Think hospital related expenses are too high right now? Wait until they have to start subsidizing individuals. That money won’t appear magically, so costs go up. Doctors have to subsidize patients? Costs go up. Insurers have to subsidize people? Costs go up.
3) The "Healthcare Is Too Expensive" Myth – I think if you ask most liberals their opinion on the cost of healthcare, they’ll rant that it is much too high and poor people just can’t afford it. Insurance companies are evil, actually trying to make money, and our poor and helpless families can’t be expected to afford healthcare! Not to mention evil employers who don’t supply healthcare to their employees! Evil evil evil!!
Before you continue reading, do you even know how much healthcare costs? If you’re a liberal and are entirely sure it’s too expensive, then you must know how much that is, right? I’m talking about a true dollar value for private health insurance. It must be astronomical and out of reach, right? Wrong.
Visit the website Allied Health Plans and look up some quotes. For a family of five, parents age 35, with a reasonable deductible around $2000k a year, the monthly premium would be somewhere around $400 a month. I will challenge any liberal who thinks that is too much money for people to pay for healthcare. Some people pay that much for car insurance on their leased Navigator (or for the Navigator itself!) If you don’t believe that, go get a quote here. Even the poor family with 7 babies dying of chicken pox could afford one of the cheaper healthcare plans.
And here is the rub that Arnold and liberals don’t understand: regardless of how affordable healthcare really is, under Arnold’s bill families don’t have to make the tough choices. If you’re poor and the government offers to take money from other people to pay for your healthcare, you no longer have to make difficult decisions about how you spend your money. How about we stop with the free handouts, stop the gluttonous expansion of government, and get back to a time where people actually took care of themselves.
