The term universal health care is one that’s thrown around an awful lot these days, especially as the healthcare debate rages on and on throughout the government. But it’s also a vastly misunderstood term, that not many people really grasp in terms of what it actually means to them. There are a lot of myths out there that are associated with this sort of a change in government, and finding the facts compared to the falsehoods can be extremely difficult.
Basically, you have to do your own research into the issue, to really be able to stand on either side of what’s commonly referred to as socialized medicine. What you find will usually be very different from what you may have thought, or even some stories that you may have been told as to how this system of health care actually works. By getting this information, you can ensure that you’re informed about the healthcare debate, so that you can see and assess just how reform can help or hurt the nation in your opinion. But here are 5 of the most common falsehoods associated with what universal health care will bring to a country:
1) The projected cost as predicted by politicians is usually wrong.
Anybody that thins universal health care would break the backs of the working class citizen is wrong. The fact of the matter is that most plans, especially those in use worldwide today are actually as such that they pay for themselves in the same way that insurance companies pay for the way that they provide services. Through taxes, as well as insurance type premiums, with a government option you could expect to pay about the same, or even a little bit less than what you pay now, thereby saving the government a ton of money in the end.
2) Universal healthcare represents the nation’s first descent into socialism.
This is completely wrong, simply because of how the programs are run. These are not programs to dictate how money is spent on healthcare, or to take control of hospitals to dictate how care should be administered. Instead, healthcare reform like this is more about ensuring that people get care in general. This is a way to help people pay the bill, the same way that insurance does, only this is a program for which everyone can be a member, unlike what you’ll find in the case of most insurance companies.
3) Services will be severely limited should healthcare reform take place.
This is another one of those falsehoods that people like to throw around as a reasoning against implementing some form of universal health care plan for citizens. But what you’re going to find is that services will remain the same as they are now. This is more about changing insurance options, and how healthcare is paid for. This has nothing to do with how healthcare is administered, except that it makes programs more available to those that would otherwise hot have access.
4) Doctors won’t have the same drive to administer care without the same profit margins.
Again, this is another falsehood that many people find with so many different types of universal health care systems. If you cite the United Kingdom as an example of how this care does not discourage a doctor from giving optimum care, you can see where this is incorrect. In the UK, instead of being totally profit based, hospitals actually get more money from the government for operations, the healthier statistically that they are able to keep their patients. That means incentive for profit is on keeping you healthy, not selling you brand name drugs as the system works now.
5) You can’t trust the government to take care of your health needs.
This is false simply because we live in a democracy. Not many people wrap their heads around the fact that the power of the government is in it’s people, and if the people don’t like what’s happening, they have the power to change that. This means if the government makes too much reform, you have every right to protest and complain to your local delegates until a change is made, thereby guaranteeing that nothing can take place that the general public does not agree with. Meaning universal health care would have to be done for the people, by the people, and not any other way.