It is just shy of two years when I was handed my grandson swaddled tightly in a blanket in the delivery room. This pure bundle of innocence brought tears to my eyes and I committed then to help him dream big, act big and achieve big. I now wonder what his future will truly hold. I hope that he can live the American dream like his mother and father, and reap the awards of his efforts. However, there seems to be more and more obstacles that will heavily impact his opportunities.
As a business owner, I have witnessed, firsthand, an increase of government intervention on the individual rights of people through policies that include an ever-growing burdensome list of rules and regulations. The proposed policy for Medicare for All is one potential obstacle that would hinder my grandson’s dreams.
With this proposed single-payer system, the government would dictate the quality of care individuals would receive, thus taking medical decisions out of the hands of patients and their physicians, and completely destroying the doctor-patient relationship. In both Britain and Canada, which have single payer systems, care is rationed and wait times for care can be months. More than 60,000 Canadian patients flee each year, usually to the U.S., escape the government healthcare to access appropriate and timely care. A recent editorial by Scott Atlas cites that Britain has 4.1 million people on wait lists with many on an eighteen-week wait for care. This is equivalent to having 20 million Americans on wait lists. We also see this in the U.S., unfortunately, under the socialized Medicaid and Veteran’s Administration health systems. As Americans, we want solutions that provide accessible, reliable and affordable healthcare for ourselves and our families. Forcing more and more individuals into antiquated medical practices with no assurance of proper care will increase care wait times and reduce quality of care.
Physician pay will be slashed, thereby exacerbating our existing doctor shortage. Currently, less than half of the U.S. population has sufficient access to primary care physicians. A Medicare for All program will make it even harder to find a doctor. We now have the freedom to choose our doctors, a value that is extremely important to me and many others as we enter our “senior” years. It is important that I have the freedom to choose doctors who agree with my philosophy regarding children’s and women’s healthcare. The last thing I need when seeking care for myself or my family is a confrontational argument because the doctor wants to force care upon me that I have no desire in using.
If government is in charge of healthcare, innovation, and medical improvements would be greatly diminished. And, as we see today, most new drugs are developed in the U.S. and, even if developed overseas, the drugs are first introduced here in the U.S. As a businesswoman, I have seen that stifling creativity and earned incentives is an abusive use of force that will negatively impact the lives of everyone.
A single payer system is fiscally unsustainable and would bankrupt our country. It would cost $32.6 trillion over 10 years. Even if corporate and income taxes were doubled, the system would still be in a deficit. Both California and Vermont abandoned socialized healthcare initiatives after recognizing that the cost would blow up their state budgets and economies. In developed countries, that have socialized medicine, we see the financial burden of such programs placed upon the middle class, including double-digit national sales taxes, and there is still a shortage of funding. Additionally, the tax rates impinge and greatly reduce economic growth. Nothing is free. People will be forced into paying more taxes for a health system that they have no desire utilizing.
Throughout my lifetime I have enjoyed the freedom to choose my health providers and the healthcare I received. I have used that freedom to ensure my physical well being. At the present moment, I am watching my grandson imitating a monkey as he slips, slides and hangs onto the jungle gym. It is inevitable that he will seek medical care throughout his lifetime, including emergency visits. A forced, overtaxed system with endless wait times for those seeking true healthcare met by faceless personnel is not what I envision for my grandson. I believe that all families should have the freedom to seek and receive the healthcare that they believe is appropriate. This will take away one obstacle facing my grandson’s generation in their quest to achieve their big dreams.
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