The Coming Collapse in Health Care
In a few months, we will go to the polls and choose the direction we want the nation to go in the future. Before we make that choice, we should know as much about the choices we have as possible. One choice that has been gaining in popularity over the past few decades is socialism and is part and parcel of the debate about health care.
Socialism is based on two fundamental principles which its adherents describe as “social justice” and “economic equality”. These principles are based on the idealistic assumption that everyone is “entitled” to the necessities of life such as, ample food, adequate housing, and health care. No one possessing a sense of morality could argue with this assumption. However, socialism takes it one-step further. Socialism also assumes it is the responsibility of society to guarantee these “entitlements“ and it contends that the major impediment to realizing this utopian goal is free market capitalism.
In socialists countries the government (people) own and control the means of production. In countries with capitalists systems, where the means of production is privately owned, socialists adapt to the system using its institutions to replace capitalism gradually over time with socialism. The clearest example of this process is the American health care system. The gradual takeover by socialism of our health care accounts for the crisis we currently face and provides the impetus for the possible choice of a socialist candidate for President in our upcoming elections.
According to an article February 26 in Health Day News the total expenditure on health care in America during 2006 was $2.1 trillion. That’s 16% of our gross domestic product and a per capita expenditure of almost $6,000. However, health care costs are not paid on a per capita basis. Children, retired persons and the unemployed do not share in the cost which is born entirely by those who are working. The number of employed persons in the U.S. according to Department of Labor figures is 146.3 million, That makes the health care cost for all Americans paid for by the employed almost $15 thousand per worker.
That cost is projected to rise to almost $30 thousand per worker over the next ten years. The same government report referred to in the article by Health Day News projects that expenditures for health care will rise to $4.3 trillion by 2017. You do not need to be an economist or mathematician to understand that that rate of spending cannot be sustained and must eventually lead to the complete collapse of our health care system.
Social programs, once implemented, are almost impossible politically to reverse, Social Security and Medicare, for example. Therefore, before undertaking another major step toward a socialist government we need to understand the consequences involved. The best way to predict the future consequences of socialism (it’s never as politicians predict) is to look at its history.
In our mixed economy, socialism takes on two forms, corporate socialism and government socialism. Corporate socialism consists of the “fringe benefits” given to workers in lieu of higher salaries. They include paid vacations, paid sick leave, pensions, company paid health insurance, etc. Corporate socialism was introduced into America’s capitalist economy through the international trade union movement dating back to the beginning of the industrial revolution in the 1800s.
Major advances occurred in the socialist labor movement between 1930 and 1950. The practice of utilizing medical insurance to pay for health care began in the years immediately following World War II and soon became a major issue in industrial union contracts. Non-union companies eventually followed suite as a means of competing for labor. 60% of all health insurance premiums today are paid for by employers. With the rise in health insurance premiums, due in part to the increased demand for health care brought on by the prevalence of third-party payers, many companies are looking for ways to avoid the burden of employee health insurance.
Many unionized companies like UPS avoid paying benefits by utilizing part-time and temporary labor for non-skilled jobs, as do non-union companies like Wal-Mart, fast food chains and retail establishments, to name a few. Other companies, along with unions and business associations such as Chambers of Commerce attempt to shift the burden of health insurance to the taxpayers by promoting universal, government paid health care.
Socialist policies were introduced into government through the New Deal instituted by Franklin D. Roosevelt and the War on Poverty by Lyndon Johnson. They continue to be promoted in Congress by the Democratic Party, particularly the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The two largest government social programs are Social Security and Medicare. Health care spending by government accounts for 18.5% of government revenues and 44.6% of all health care purchased in America.
Should America choose to elect a socialist President and he is successful in getting legislation passed to provide universal health care coverage, paid for by government, we can expect large increases in our national debt already scheduled to reach $10 trillion by the spring of 2009. The trend toward socialized health care, at this point, seems irreversible. The best we can hope for is to slow the progress and attempt to mitigate the damage to our economy as much as possible. Either way, common sense indicates our health care system is headed for a total breakdown in the next couple of decades.