Posted on Thursday, 22nd January 2009 by Bill Bean
71% of Americans want to require employers to either offer health insurance or pay money into a government pool but when asked whether they’d still support that mandate if they heard that some companies might lay off people as a result, the number sinks to 29%. (from editorial in today’s Indy Star*)
Let’s face it. Americans want their cake but they don’t want to pay for it. (full disclosure…me too)
Do 71% or 29% of Americans want to make improvements in their personal choices that would be guaranteed to lower their healthcare costs? 100% of me says, I doubt it.
According to many proponents of nationalized healthcare, other countries spend half as much on healthcare per person and cover everyone. While I have no doubt there is massive room for reform/improvement in our system the constant comparison to what works in other countries is almost useless.
Americans do not want the healthcare offered in other countries (as a general rule). Without a doubt there are particular exceptions but taken as a whole, is there really anyone doing better at the scale we’re doing it at?
That being said, my personal conviction is that everyone deserves to be cared for at a very basic level (that level needs to be defined). I also have a basic conviction that the government should not be responsible for this. Hmmm, that just leaves us to do it.
* I would have linked to the Indy Star editorial but for the life of me I could not find it on their website. Apparently, in the midst of all the recent staff trimmings they let the website experts go. "How To Win Over The Insured" by Froma Harrop.
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