I have seen a lot of opposition to the Affordable Care Act since October 1, particularly from my friends on Facebook, and, being me, I have not suffered in silence. I have responded, made my own comments, linked to articles. What I have not done is to write down my own thoughts about the law, or try to express how much I believe that the many people who so virulently oppose this really just have no case. So this is that post, six things I hope opponents of the Affordable Care Act will think about before they complain about it again.
I have seen a lot of opposition to the Affordable Care Act since October 1, particularly from my friends on Facebook, and, being me, I have not suffered in silence. I have responded, made my own comments, linked to articles. What I have not done is to write down my own thoughts about the law, or try to express how much I believe that the many people who so virulently oppose this really just have no case. So this is that post, six things I hope opponents of the Affordable Care Act will think about before they complain about it again.
1. Last Place
When you think about the United States, do you think of a country that lags behind other countries? A country that just doesn't have the resources to provide for its citizens the way other, more prosperous countries, like, maybe, Columbia do? Do you think that it's OK if it is just a disadvantage to be born here, because as a country, we just can't do what others can? Well, when it comes to health care, this is exactly the case. Columbia's healthcare system was in fact ranked above the United States by the World Health Organization, as were Portugal, Greece, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco. The United States ranked 38th, just behind Costa Rica and ahead of Slovenia. Have a look at that list. Does it make you feel proud? But if you checked out the list, you may have noticed that we do actually lead in one area: We are number one in expenditure per capita.
The truth is that the United States has one of the worst healthcare systems in the world. We get pretty good care compared to other countries (although just comparable, not necessarily better), but a) the care we get is extremely expensive, and b) it is not is not administered fairly, because a good portion of our population is uninsured and so does not realistically have access to good care.
More about the fair part later, but let's understand the expensive part. Because you are an American, more of your income, and/or your company's benefits, and or your tax dollars, goes toward paying for your healthcare than if you lived anywhere else in the world. This is like a tax on every American citizen, a price you pay for living in this country, because nearly every other industrialized country has figured out something that we have not.
So I exaggerated, only 38th place, not last. But bear in mind that the countries below us on that list don't have the resources we have, so we cannot really be compared to them. The United States has a terrible healthcare system, one the rest of the world would never think of emulating. We should be able to do better than 38th place. If you don't think that the United States needed healthcare reform, you are saying that 38th place, with the most expensive system in the world (and it is a lot more expensive than almost anyone else), is great. That's not right; it isn't great. This is why we needed healthcare reform.
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