Health Care & Role of Government
The NY Times has an interesting story on the possibility of health care for all Americans. It talks about just how close we [could be] to having universal health care. The most interesting quote from the article is:
“This isn’t communism. The changes could happen under a public health care system or one that is privately run.”
Since when did public health care equal communism?!?!?! What is so terrible about the government providing health care? Are the health care systems in nations where the government provides health care (e.g. Canada, some European nations) broken (or more broken than our privately run model)?
We are at a point now where we need to re-examine what the primary function of government should be. Many, especially friends on the right, believe that the government’s primary role is to protect the people. To them, “a proper government is only a policeman, acting as an agent of a person’s self-defense.” Maybe I’m crazy, but part of protecting me is protecting my health.
Think of parents. Among other things, parents protect their children. They protect their kids when the cross the street. They protect their kids when they tell them not to touch the stove when it’s on. They protect their kids when they put a hat on their head before they go outside. The first example is one of protecting safety. The last two are examples of protecting health. What is the purpose of a government (and by extensions, armed forces) that don’t protect me and/or my health? Maybe I have a maternalistic view of government and its role. I don’t think that when it comes to health care too many people would disagree with me (except HMOs and Bill Frist).