There is a great healthcare debate on the horizon. The only thing that seems certain is that the system is broken, and the incentive for the Healthcare industry is to keep it that way. Health Insurance companies have had there profits skyrocket as affordability and care have plummeted for the consumer. The opponents of universal healthcare have come up with a scary buzzword to keep you from engaging the logic centers of your brain, "the R-word" or Rationing.
Rationing is the result of reality, there are only so many doctors and a lot of people that aren't doctors. Therefore, some people can't get the care that they need. This begs the question though, if rationing is a future concern, why isn't it a present concern?
There could be 2 possible reasons why this isn't currently a concern.
- The problem doesn't exist - Either we currently have enough doctors or people are so healthy that we don't have to ration care. The invisible hand of the market has created such an efficient health delivery mechanism that everyone's healthcare needs are met.
- People being systematically denied care now have no voice - This is the much more likely, and realistic reason.
As of 2007, there were an estimated 25 million underinsured adults in the United States, up 60 percent from 2003. [source]
In 2007, there were 45.7 million people in the US (15.3% of the population) who were without health insurance for at least part of that year [source]
A third of Americans under age 65 — 86.7 million people — went without health insurance at some point during the past two years, according to a report released Wednesday. [source]
So rationing happens right now, only instead of basing healthcare rationing off of some health based criteria (crazy, I know) it is primarily based off of ability to pay.
Why now do we hear the grumblings and rumblings from the media noise machine about healthcare rationing? Because the media bobbleheads and legislators who supposedly represent us are so used to the finest in healthcare that the idea of them having to wait in line is terrifying.
What's the point of being rich and powerful if you can't get your tummy tuck on demand, sure little Susie can't get her necessary surgery, but she also can't afford the premiums, so fuck her.
Rationing is not the issue, the fear is that the criteria for rationing will change and that the people currently at the front of the line will be pushed to the back, for good reason. Rationing is a terrible situation, and hopefully we will find ways to reduce the amount of rationing going forward. But, it is intellectually dishonest to make it seem as though it doesn't currently occur.
Talk to anyone who has been uninsured or underinsured, you can easily find a hundred stories of people postponing care or forgoing care to avoid bankruptcy and co-pays. The underinsured too scared to go to the doctor because they don't want to lose their policy. The uninsured depending on emergency rooms, pushing care off until the last possible moment.
This rationing is a code word, a dog whistle, and at its core is the thought that dirty poor people would get necessary health care before rich white people.
I'm fed up with it, the only ethical choice moving forward is single-payer universal healthcare. We need to let people focus on their wellness, not on the private beauracracy and rationing of the for-profit healthcare industry.