Relax. America’s health care system will not collapse overnight. The sick will not be laid out on the street like Lazarus in front of Dives house. Get over the hysteria.
Why? Because the profit motive will still be in effect. Supply and demand will still be the controlling factor. Doctors will still need to make a living. Those huge hospitals will still need to pay the utilities. What will happen is that you will spend less time filling out all the paperwork that the government demands. You will get to know your doctor and he will find a way to treat you.
I remember when I was young and foolish. Notice I said “foolish” not “stupid”. I had a problem. I had lost the hearing in one of my ears and I was working a less-than-minimum-wage job for the summer. I had no insurance. That didn’t bother me because I had never had insurance. The nurse where I worked made a phone call, I went to a doctor’s office, they told me what they usually charged and based on the reference of the nurse, charged me what I could afford to pay. I am not sure it covered the cost of the materials for the treatment but I was taken care of.
Some variation of that will take place if the government goes back to following the Constitution. Will some people suffer? Probably. Life happens. People suffer now. No bureaucrat will be able to take care of all pain in life. If they get out the way then the doctors will be able to get into patient care instead of dodging government regulations.
Most doctor are just like you and me. They have prepared to serve their community. All they really want is a chance to do so without going to jail or bankruptcy court. They will lower rates because that will be necessary to sell their service. We will pay more out of pocket because that will be necessary to get our share of what is available. The needle will meet in the middle and everybody will be better off.
Let the power hungry tyrants of the nanny state get out of the way and let the natural greed of the profit motive get into gear. I trust greed more than power.
homo unius libri
In a way, the last few years of rapidly increasing deductibles may have helped folks get used to just paying for the doctor's service out of pocket.
ReplyDeleteSometime in the next six months we will transition to Medicare. In looking at the options my wife is already gearing up to paying out of pocket for visits to a GP so we can pick our doctors.
DeleteGrace and peace.