Amerika

The amusing little Reds over at The Guardian made an attempt at satire. They forget that satire should be entertaining, not merely preachy, and that it requires taking things to extremes, which is why they made more of a convincing argument than they think:

Instead, we propose doing away with all government-supplied healthcare – indeed with health insurance altogether. If you want to purchase medical or related treatments, then you may do so out of your own pocket. No insurance company or government will help or hinder the process.

…What are the practical consequences of our proposal? The astute reader will no doubt ask whether this proposal means that those who are not wealthy will sicken and perish from treatable diseases. The answer is clearly, yes.

…Our present healthcare system, though lagging behind those of all other first world nations, is still good enough to appear attractive to foreigners fleeing economic hardship, civil war, or persecution. However, once it becomes known that if you cannot afford medical treatment here you will sicken, suffer, and soon die, pressures on immigration will quickly subside.

To be a Leftist is to never wake up and realize that you are ludicrous and your world built on lies. Since the 1970s, healthcare has experienced one major change: the biggest area of staffing is now those who are filling out paperwork. People complain their healthcare is worse than ever, but back in the 1960s, our concern was limitations of technology, not fighting bureaucracy.

As always, the voters get it wrong. They fear not having money for care, so instead of focusing on catastrophic care — accident or life-threatening illness — the little idiots demand that insurance subsidize everyday care. Insurance laughs, because the house always wins, and simply charges them more. But because it is a deferred payment, the little lottery-players think it is a good deal.

Want to talk about ideal care? Purchase catastrophic insurance at a certain amount, say, $5 million. If something goes wrong, they pay this out to you, but no more, so pick the amount carefully. This also incentivizes insurance lobbyists to demand that fewer things go wrong when addressing government and law enforcement.

For everyday care, pay for it yourself. Instead of an extra 30% for paperwork costs, and another 20% for legal battles with insurance, you will pay for the care you actually receive. Some will not, and they will die, which is called natural selection and benefits everyone. Maybe it sounds callous but it is less destructive than crippling a society to take care of a small minority of people who are doomed anyway.

Tags: healthcare, the guardian