Socialized medicine is a service owned by all citizens and is present in many
countries. How does it work and what does it do for a nations economy? One of
the biggest fears most people have is becoming sick or injured, and the problem
for them is paying for it. Under socialized medicine people would receive health
care, regardless of their ability to pay. Everyone would be taken care of
without worry of how they would pay for their care. The World Health
Organization, part of the United Nations, says that, ⌠health care is a
fundamental human right.■ The benefit of national health care would be
potential for people to live longer lives. Costs would be driven down because
doctors, nurses, and other health care providers would become civil servants.
⌠Another benefit would be that malpractice suits would decline, because it
is very difficult to take legal action against the government■ (Carol
1994). Economics is the biggest factor in whether socialized medicine is good or
bad for a nation▓s economy. The United States, to a point, has socialized
medicine with Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Administration Federal medicine, and
health departments. The National Center for Public Policy Research said that,
⌠In 1990 the government shared 42 percent of the health and gained over 50
percent of health care in 1992 as expenses begin to rise.■ In 1993 health
care expenditures consumed 13.9 percent of the Gross Domestic Product and 15.6
percent in 1995 according to the Heritage Foundation. ⌠Typically, people
mistakenly blame rising costs on drug manufacturers, insurance companies,
physicians, and hospitals. But the rapid growth in medical expenses is rising
due to the rise in medical services needed■ (Oatman 11-34). As the
government attempts to establish health care, hospitals are being overburdened
with minor and unnecessary uses of health care services. These have caused
emergency rooms to be filled with treating common colds, headaches, and minor
scrapes. Medicare is said to be useless by the year 2002, just 8 years before 77
million baby boomers begin to retire. ⌠The only way that the country could
continue is to raise taxes severely■ (Oatman 40). The supporters of
national health care are Canada, Great Britain, France and Germany. All are
suffering from severe budget and service problems. They are all losing their
best and brightest doctors to the free market systems of the United States.
These health care systems have a two-class system. The rich in these systems use
private hospitals with private insurance to receive the levels of health care
that the average American receives (Peikoff 1994). In Canada, the national
health care system is facing many problems. Many hospitals have been closed to
cut costs, and proof of this is shown in the amount of Canadian health care
workers in the United States. Robert Bourassa, former Premier of Quebec, after
discovering that he had melanoma, flew to Washington D.C. for further
consultation at the National Cancer Institute. Former Cabinet Minister, John
Moore, in charge of British National Health Service, checked himself into a
private hospital for treatment of pneumonia. ⌠The British Royal Family has
such faith in their health care system, that they are all treated in private
hospitals. Socialized medicine is such a failure, even government officials
admit to it by their actions■ (Mc Cuen, 1988). When health care starts
being a right, the medical profession will not be as wealthy, and the quality of
medical care will be decreased. Under the traditional American health care
system a person has the right to health care if one can afford it, if you earn
it by your own actions and efforts. But no one has the right, just because they
want or need it. Pierre says that one is born with a moral right to hair care
and the government should provide that free of charge. As a result, people show
up everyday for an expensive new styling, the government pays out more and more,
and barbers love their new huge incomes. Would you even think that a hairstylist
could possibly even come close to making as much money as a doctor or nurse?
These are not quite the actual standings but close enough for concern. There are
also free hair implants, eyebrow plucks, breast implants, nose jobs, dental
expenses tummy tucks, any type of plastic surgery you could possibly dream of
getting, this could all be available for you, if you need it or have the want
for it. Beauty schools have taken off, and tuition for them is sky high.
Beauticians are working and spending like mad, trying to give every customer his
or hers heart▓s desire, which is a millionaire▓s appeal with special
hair care and service (Sherrow 1994). The country also has a budget that is out
of control, and as a result the government attempts to keep costs down by
limiting the number of barbers, limiting the time spent on haircuts, and putting
limits on types of hairstyles. The government makes an attempt to control the
number of barbers, but is unsuccessful. The government becomes larger by making
a whole multi-million dollar computerized office of records with inspectors,
while maintaining this is just a huge waste of money. Some barbers still seem to
be making too much money. So now barbers have to start applying for Certificates
of Need in order to buy razors. High prices, high taxes, and expensive equipment
make it a little harder for a barber to run a successful business. If we lived
in an ideal society, everything society deemed a right, everyone would have.
Nobody has the right to the services of any professional individual or group,
simply because he wants them or desperately needs them. There are other
alternatives such as charity as exempting the elderly from taxation. One can
understand that some people cannot afford health insurance due to the fact that
the person chose not to invest in an insurance policy. When politicians and
bureaucrats screw up the economy, you can always do without for a while and make
more money next year. When they screw up your health, you▓re dead. My
health and presumably yours is much too important to be entrusted to the
government. If the medical profession believes everyone is entitled to health
care, then health care should be provided for free by those who believe it is a
right, rather than getting the government involved in coercing funds through
taxation. ⌠If the medical profession is so compassionate, why do we charge
people for our services? That isn▓t compassionate■ (Szumskie 72-87).
People in Quebec are so used to socialized medicine, that they are limited to
hospital, laundry, or cafeteria services. There have been discussions of
allowing Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO▓s) in Quebec, where
HMO▓s are totally financed and controlled by the public health insurance
system. The government of Quebec has repeatedly come out against HMO▓s.
⌠People under socialized medicine would never like the change to an HMO
system■ (Mc Cuen 1988). ⌠In Quebec, 62 percent of the population now
thinks that people should pay nothing to see a doctor and 82 percent want
hospital care to remain free. People have come to believe that it is normal for
the government to take care of their health■ (Carol 1994). Opponents of
private health care hate competition and private enterprise. They dispose the
idea that some people may use money to purchase better health care. They think
that everybody should have less, as long as it is equal. This is morally and
socially unacceptable. The first thing to realize is that free public medicine
isn▓t really free. What the consumer doesn▓t pay, the taxpayer does,
and with a high interest rate. Public health expenses in Quebec amount to 29
percent of the government budget. One√fifth of the profit come from a tax
wedge of 3.22 percent, charged to employers, and the rest comes from general
taxes at federal levels controlled by the public health insurance system. The
government of Quebec has repeatedly come out against HMO▓s. People under
socialized medicine would never adapt to the HMO system. It costs $1,200 per
year in taxes for each Quebec citizen to have access to the public health
system. This means that a two-child family pays close to $5,000 per year in
public health insurance. This is more expensive than most private health
insurance plans. Private doctors may not charge more than the rates though.
Because they have no choice, because private insurance for basic medical needs
isn▓t needed, there are few customers, and less than one percent of Quebec
doctors work outside the public health system. All doctors in the public system
are in it illegally; it doesn▓t allow private insurers from competing with
public health insurance. Real private hospital industry could not develop
without insurance coverage, hospital care costs too much for most people. In
Quebec there is only one private for-profit hospital, (an old survivor from when
the government would issue a permit to that kind of business) but it has to work
within the public health insurance system and with government budgets. The basic
health insurance has led to the public system of health care. The system is slow
to adjust to changing demands and new technologies. Day clinics and home care
are under developed and there are only two types of hospitals: the non-profit
local hospital and the university hospital, this does not give a person much of
a choice when it comes to looking for the best service and care, and don▓t
forget price. In conclusion, socialized medicine is a right to medical care,
regardless of wealth. Socialized medicine provides underprivileged people and
children, with the non-worrying and security to the medical profession, they can
even become employees of the government. Socialized medicine helps. Health care
is a right at all costs. Socialized medicine may be bad for a country's economy
but in the end everyone is covered from birth to death.

BibliographyJournals: McCuen, G.(1988). ⌠Health care systems: a global
perspective■. Poor and minority health care, Vol. 1, p.54-109. Oatman, E.
(1978). ⌠The question of quality■. National medical care, Vol. 50.
P. 11-34. Sherrow, V. (1994). ⌠The flight over access, quality, and
cost■. The health care crisis, Vol.4, p. 9-23. Carol, (1994).
Socialization of medicine. Socialist views, Vol. 1,p. 134-157. Szumkie, B.
(1989) World health care. The health care crisis: opposing viewpoints, Vol. 4,
p. 72-87. Books: Thiroux, J. (1995). Ethics Theory and Practice. New Jersey:
Prentice Hall, Inc. Internet: Peikoff, J. Socialized medicine vs. private health
care {http://www.freemarket.org/features/spotlight/980.html}.