On Health Care and Dining Out by Allison Williams

Imagine that America has the best restaurants in the world. The food is both amazingly delicious and incredibly nutritious. Chefs come from all over the world to work and learn in American restaurants and test kitchens, and every year billions of dollars are spent to make the food even better, and to make food that appeals to every possible diner’s personal tastes and physical needs. And anyone who wants to can eat.

One catch – eating in an American restaurant costs at least $200 per meal. Not counting the appetizers, any special requests like “extra Bearnaise sauce, please” or the napkins. But since the food is so good for you, and so desirable – and in this world, most people can’t cook at home, and most raw ingredients aren’t sold in stores – about 84% of the public has an agreement with their employer. They pay about $200-500 a month, and they can eat all they want. The remaining 15.8% of the American population goes hungry most of the time, eating whatever they can scrounge, and hopes they don’t get very hungry, because if they get very hungry, and really, really need a week of those very delicious, very nutritious meals to stay alive, it will cost them enough money to put them in debt for the rest of their life. Most of them choose to stay hungry.

This is what the current system of American health care is like. Sure, the restaurant is usually pretty busy, but most people make reservations anyway. If you want a big banquet, or some really special ingredients, you might wait a few weeks until they can squeeze you in, but you can almost always get a table.

So what happens if we let that last 16% come into the restaurant? Well, wait times might be a little longer. And some people might decide to go eat at another country’s restaurant, where the service is snappier, or where the chefs are a little less rushed because they deal with fewer people. But there would be fewer people starving, mouths watering with their noses pressed to the glass while the people who can afford it dine in splendor.

Are there waiting times in countries with socialized medicine for some procedures? Sure. That’s what happens when you allow everyone to see the doctor instead of just the people who can afford it.

It’s OK to vote in your own self-interest – most people do. So when you vote against reforming health care, please be clear on what you’re voting for.

You are not defending the American way of life.

You are not defending the freedom to make your own medical choices.

You are not defending the world’s greatest medical care system.

You are voting so that you can see the doctor and I can’t.


Source on health insurance statistic – the Census Bureau via Cnn.com.