Hillarycare, that "oh, so good" sounding promise of "free" healthcare for everyone, is again looming on the horizon. At least in Oregon, since the Federal government already instituted Medicare, in 1972, which is a socialized medicine for older folks.
Well, now our ex-governor, Dr. John Kitzhaber, is trying to re-work the "free" Oregon Health Plan imposed on the citizens of this state in the 1980's. now, he wants to re-work the plan. Why? Well, probably because he didn't do a good job designing it in the beginning. Or, maybe he wants to be governor again. Either way, Oregonians would lose.
His idea is that "all Oregonians would receive at least basic health care coverage under a sweeping reform plan.." and how would this dream get paid for? Well, naturally, he would use the state money already going to the OHP from taxes. But, he wants to go further, and create more dependency on his program by taxing what ".. the state currently forgoes because employers are allowed to deduct what they spend on employee health insurance. " This will effectively remove the incentive for employers to provide a healthcare benefit to their employees, and at the very least it would cause the cost of this employee benefit to increase beyond the point of affordability. Then you may not have a choice but to use the "new' OHP.
Canada's free healthcare system, according to a report from the Fraser Institute for the government, is nearing bankruptcy. By 2022, they expect the taxes required to support this system to be 50% of a working person's income. It will require 100% of income almost ten years later. Besides the cost, there's the wait time. Canada just released it's report on health care wait times, they say waiting up to 26 weeks for by-pass surgery is acceptable. How many heart patients will die while they're waiting?
The abuse of the OHP is rampant. It's free to those who qualify, and the qualification process is fraught with loopholes. One such case I'm personally aware of involves a young lady. She hired in to an office, and had a choice of taking the employer's health insurance, or OHP. Why did she qualify for OHP? Well, this person happened to belong to a particular ethnic group. That's it, that's all it took! She took the OHP because it was free.
How many illegal aliens are taking advantage of the OHP, but not reporting their wages, which would be taxed.
"Free" healthcare isn't really free. Somebody has to pay for it. And the cost to provide it will continue to increase, just as the system will continue to be abused. The Fraser Report recommends that the Canadian government start charging a copay for service, and allow citizens to purchase private insurance. By doing this it's assumed that the abuse of the system will be reduced to a managable level.
Kitzhaber likened his plan to the public school system. People have a choice to send their kids to public school, or to pay for private schools. Well, either way, a parent pays. In case you didn't notice, public schools are funded and controlled by the government. Kitzhaber wants our healthcare to be under the same control. What do we hear every year from our public school system? "We need more money." We'll hear that from the OHP too. How much money does it take to make something work properly? Well, when it comes to the government, there's never enough money.
Nothing in this world is free. Not even the air you breathe (ever heard of the EPA? They are a government -- aka taxpayer supported -- department).
For a related blog, see: Tuesday, November 15, 2005, "Socialized Medicine in the US, aka HillaryCare"
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