The quandary of health care costs

A lot of people fundamentally misunderstand the health care debate. Last month, my husband overheard a nurse bemoaning the horrible fact that Texas has a high rate of uninsured. It’s so sad that we have been so overwhelmed by the “common sense” argument that this is somehow an atrocious thing that we didn’t stop to consider the reality.

In fact, if we are truly regretting the high price of medical care, the answer is to get rid of insurance altogether. I am not suggesting that we do this. I believe in the free market and if people find it worthwhile to purchase health care for their families, they should be allowed to. But the fact remains that the idea of more coverage lowering costs is ludicrous.

Consider this: A woman walked into my husband’s ER last month. She claimed to be having abdominal pain. He examined her, did the necessary tests and discovered that she was in good health. So, he asked her if there was anything else he needed to know. She responded, “I had unprotected sex last weekend and I want you to test me for STD’s.”

Nate answered, “I can do that, but it’s very expensive in the emergency room. If you go to a clinic, it will save you a lot of money.”

She replied, “I don’t care about that. I’m on Medicaid. Do the tests here.”

We have, in essence, a woman who came to the emergency room to get tested for STD’s. Why? Because of insurance.

I get so angry when I hear people saying, “We need universal coverage because people neglect to get primary care and then they end up in the ER and it costs a lot more.” My local congressman had the gall to send this ludicrous argument in a tax-payer funded news letter.

Listen very carefully…When the state of Massachusetts implemented mandatory medical insurance, emergency room visits went UP. This is because people with insurance become more demanding, wanting tests they don’t need. They also don’t care what you’re charging them. They take less responsibility for their own health because the healthcare coverage means they don’t have to. They are fine with name brand drugs. They refuse to see nurse practitioners. They don’t care what it costs. Would you bother shopping for discounts at the grocery store if you had food insurance that only required a co pay on your part? You would probably fill the cart as full as it could go, whether you needed it or not.

If you want health care costs to go down, more insurance is the opposite of what we need. If you want the cost of ANYTHING to go down, more government is, likewise, the opposite of what we need.

When are we going to figure out the simplest fact of all (the one our grandparents knew all too well): The solution to almost every problem is personal responsibility.