We have all heard the statistics that the Democratic Party likes to throw around about health care in America. They love to tell us that 47 million people in the U.S. are without health insurance, and this is a large part of their justification to move from our current health care system to one run by the government. However, if we consider socialized health systems like those in Canada and Great Britain, we can clearly see that a government-run system is unresponsive and loaded down with bureaucratic garbage. Procedures that you can get in a day in America can take you weeks or even months within our neighbors to the north.
But does it matter how available health care is if no one can afford it? The answer is, of course, no, but I have a problem with the assumption that no one can afford it. If we look at this 47 million number, there are some huge problems with it. First of all, most if not all of the estimated 20 million illegal immigrants in America are included in that number. The people crossing the boarder illegally are usually very poor and work low paying jobs when they get here. In fact, there are huge problems across the nation with people here illegally using emergency rooms as their primary care providers. When they can not pay for it, the government (that means you) ends up picking up the bill. If we account for people who have no right to be here in the first place, this 47 million is cut almost in half.
Likewise, a large amount of this number consists of young people like us. For most of us, our parent’s health care covers us or we have health coverage through the university. That will all go as soon as we graduate. Since I am graduating in a few weeks, this is obviously on the front of my mind. The democrats would like us to think that this is because we cannot afford it. They want you to be scared about the costs of health care so we have to run to them with our hands out begging for their help. Is it true that health insurance is really that expensive? I was recently walking around campus contemplating this, when I looked around and noticed how many students have iPhones and BlackBerries. These phones cost hundreds of dollars, and the data plans cost over $120 a month. Students can afford this but cannot afford health care?! Think about your life. How much do you pay for those premium channels on your cable bill? How much do you spend on your car payment?
The issue is not that young people cannot afford it, it is that they do not want to pay the money. I looked up Blue Shield health insurance online, and their packages start as low as $45 a month. Take off the text messaging and the data plan from that iPhone, and you can pay for health insurance. This is called an “opportunity cost.” Too many people think that they are entitled to certain luxuries, and they spend their money on that instead of the essentials. All the while, this is used by politicians to justify destroying the best health care system in the world.
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