Four Reasons to Oppose Universal Health Care

As more and more people are falling victim to the idea that socialized health care or universal health care is a good thing, I feel it's an important topic to address. I lived in Paris, France for 6 months and all I saw is proof that universal health care is a detriment to any health care system.

1) You don't receive the best treatment available

A friend of mine who is Swedish (yes, they also have socialized health care) told me that several years ago, her little brother broke his arm. Since there were no doctors available to set it - they were all caring for other patients - he had to wait for three days. When they set it, the doctor who set it wasn't trained to set bones and did it incorrectly. It healed wrong, and had to be re-broken and reset several months later. People wait and wait for service, and they don't get what they need for months... as in the case of my friend's brother, or even for years.

2) People Take Advantage Of What's Given To Them (For Free)

Not to pick on the French, but they go to the doctor for everything, whether it's a simple cold or the stomach flu. Why shouldn't they? It's free. All of the doctor visits, the over-the-counter drugs, it's free. It's the same thing everywhere: people who have free health care go to the doctor for everything. And I mean everything. That means that the important things get pushed to the side, and you have to wait. An emergency? Well, you might be seen right away, but it could be some time before you actually receive treatment.

3) Doctors and Drug Companies Don't Offer Better Treatment or Find New Treatments

Doctors and nurses aren't paid to offer the best quality care, so they don't: again, human nature. Instead, they leave to go find work elsewhere. It works similarly for drug companies: they're not paid to supply the best, more expensive drugs because they have a budget which won't and doesn't cover them. Doctors, research scientists and others affected don't want to spend valuable and unpaid time finding new solutions to old (or new) health problems. We all like to be paid for our work - so do doctors and nurses, and they deserve what they get paid.

4) The Provided Health Care Deteriorates

Do you have bad health care now? That's not going to change. If you can't afford good health care now, you're going to be waiting, probably a LONG time to receive health care with "free" health care. Those who can afford to take care of the problem will go somewhere where they have to pay however many thousands of dollars to fix the problem - and they'll get better. The poor and middle class will be stuck, waiting - with no light at the end of the tunnel.

By the way, it's not really free - our taxes are paying for it. Has anyone ever told you "nothing's free." It's true, whether or not you've heard it. In this case, we're paying for the "free" health care with our taxes. That means that, despite the promises of various politicians, taxes will go UP not down. The other important thing to consider is this: the free thing is generally of a poorer quality than the thing that costs - as demonstrated above.

As with all government-run programs, free health care will become more expensive and deteriorate with time - if not right from the get-go. For more information, check out this website.