Why Universal Healthcare Bothers Me...

[sweeneytodd.livejournal.com]

My brother and I were just having a discussion...

So, the government gives free healthcare to anyone and everyone. Doesn't it bother you that the governments money is going to end up going to some meth addict on the verge of death? I mean, seriously. Even with the state provided healthcare today, I just feel that you should at least have a drug test. If you're killing yourself with drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes why should the government hold your hand through it all?

Comments

[pat-t.livejournal.com]

It sounds cruel, but under government run healthcare, the best we can hope for is that a non compliant person will succumb to the disease, instead of the compliant who lives many many 5k years, thus costing more money overall in the longterm.


It sounds like you're making the assumption (or hoping for) that non-compliant people die early, thus costing less overall. I apologize if that isn't the case. However, if it is, let me assure you that is a false assumption.

With healthcare as it is, those people can live very long lives. Very poor quality lives, but long. People with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) can live well into their 80's and 90's. They'll be in a wheelchair and hooked up to an oxygen tank, but they will be alive. In the hospital more than out, but we can keep them alive.

Take those diabetics. They come in in a diabetic coma, we turn them around, get them better and send them home to do it again. They live decades with us fighting to keep their limbs attached while they eat what they want and not take their medicine or checking their blood sugar the way they are supposed to. Eventually, they lose the battle and we have to start amputating limbs. They go blind. Their kidneys fail and they end up on dialysis. We can keep them alive for decades, in and out of the hospital, using up more than their share of health care resources and sucking the tax payers dry.

The same goes for drug abusers and alcoholics. Don't assume that they will die off early.

And any money spent for my healthcare when I'm older is money that is being ripped out of my paycheck every week. It's *my* money. I've been paying social security and medicare taxes my entire working life. It's not my fault the government has stolen spent it on other things or paid out my money for other people's benefits. People who have not paid in.