The Conservative Case for Universal Healthcare

The American Conservative ^ | July 25, 2017 | Chase Madar

[Rubble Rouser]

Wrong. My real complaint is that the insurance driven market we have does not serve us very well.

If you want a house overlooking the ocean, you can get a job that pays you enough to buy one. If a sick person wants insurance, they are out of luck. If a poor person experiences a medical crisis in our current system the average out of pocket total is nearly $30,000. You can enjoy your cliff top view while they go off to bankruptcy court.

One significant point of savings in a single payer system is that the expense the insurance companies add to the system are removed. This is an enormous savings in and of itself. We can also remove expenses caused by defensive medicine and non-competitive care provision.

Your analysis breaks down because of the clear evidence of lower individual costs as well as lower percent of GDP experienced by the single payer systems which simultaneously provide better care outcomes.

[OIFVeteran]

I agree with you that an amendment should be passed for a program like this. Not just say it is a tax and therefore constitutional under the 16th amendment. That is also how social security and Medicare should have been created if the American people wanted those programs.

[Svartalfiar]

When the government flexing its monopsony muscle as the overwhelmingly largest buyer of medical services, drugs and technology, it would also lower prices-–that’s what happens in nearly every other country.

Right. That's why the air force pays $400 for a hammer... Government has no incentive to lower it's costs - the money isn't theirs, so who cares? The only reason they want to is because it looks good politically.

Is profligate spending on health care really a conservative value?

If that's what someone wants to spend on it, then yes! Conservative value is get the government out of it and let people decide how much or how little they want to spend.

Mr. Lange paused, and took an audible breath; I felt like I had put him in the awkward spot of inviting him over and asking for his honest opinion of the drapes and upholstery. “Yes,” he said, “we are less free but security versus freedom is a classic balance!

Wow. The counter-quote just writes itself.

Chase Madar is an attorney in New York and the author of The Passion of Bradley Manning: The Story Behind the Wikileaks Whistleblower.

Why is a supposedly conservative site hiring a bunch of liberals to write articles about "conservative" principles?