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Thread: Research Paper: Socialized Medicine/Obamacare

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    Post Research Paper: Socialized Medicine/Obamacare

    Wrote my research paper on socialized medicine/Obamacare a few months ago, thought why not share it? Feel free to throw out your opinions regarding it, throw out error(s) I made, or perhaps learn something new regarding Obamacare.
    Note: This is 100% written by Tmoe/Jatex and I do not give anyone the permission to copy it.

    O, and it's formatted nicely in word.. :P.
    Socialized Medicine

    Which is the better healthcare system for the United States, socialized or privatized medicine? Due to socialized medicine, countries such as Canada have suffered multiple losses in technology. This can be shown by the sheer outnumbering of machines when you compare the socialized and privatized systems. With the lack in technology caused by the socialized systems, there are multiple drawbacks in a socialized system. As well, with the lack of such simple necessities - such as machines - there can be un-needed deaths. America's privatized medicine should not be transferred to a socialized medicine due to the negative effects it would cause.

    With the introduction of socialized medicine in America, there would be multiple drawbacks. Drawbacks of such a drastic, negative change, would affect both the economy and the everyday life of citizens. If a change were to take place, there would be numerous things that would negatively affect the economy. While taxes in the United States currently are currently lower than many other developed countries, that could easily change with socialized medicine, "In 2006 U.S. taxes at all levels of government claimed 28 percent of GDP, compared with an average of 36 percent of GDP for the 30 member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)" (Williams). As well, competition among the privatized business would cease to exist, " With a public plan in the mix, “there's no way to run a side-by-side competition” that would be fair to private insurers, said Karen Ignagni, chief executive of the health-insurance lobby America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)..." (Clemmit). While government figures claim the "government package" would be fully optional, it would become implausible for businesses to continue running while competing with the government. Businesses would be going out of business, and the government would be forcing U.S. citizens to pay for healthcare, even if they did not want it. Socialized medicine would not only effect the economy, but would also affect the quality of healthcare that one receives. This can easily been seen in Canada where ambulances have been known to be "stacked up" while heart attack victims wait hours to be properly taken care of (DiLorenzo). Such a drastic change would surely effect the economy.

    Implementing socialized medicine would greatly increase taxes within the nation. The general belief is that with a socialized system comes free healthcare. This is false, citizens would still pay for their healthcare, but indirectly, "Socialized healthcare is not really free, of course; the true cost is merely hidden, since it is paid for by taxes" (DiLorenzo). Instead of paying for health insurance from a private business, every legal citizen in America would be paying taxes in order to cover the healthcare for the entire nation. Even if a citizen did not want healthcare, they would still have to pay for it, "Under the new law, all the exits from the system are blocked. You can't opt out or buy cheap, high-deductible Acme Car-type insurance, even if that's what you need" (Goldberg). As well, not all the taxes are up front, there are multiple hidden in the ObamaCare plan. One example being a %10 additional tax on all tanning salons (Hogberg). While there would also be additional taxes, it is quite possible that the prices for insurance would rise even further for a family, "The Congressional Budget Office predicts that premiums for a small number of families who buy their insurance privately will rise by as much as $2,100," (Hasset). The increase in taxes is not the only negative economic issue, private companies would be bankrupted.

    What would happen to all the privatized healthcare companies? They would all soon run out of business due to not being able to compete with a government system, "Additional taxes and mandated costs are to be imposed on health insurance companies, while a government-run "health insurance" bureaucracy will be created, ostensibly to "compete" with the private companies" (DiLorenzo). Even though citizens would be able to choose whether they wanted socialized medicine or not, it would not be plausible to stay with a privatized provider. The government can easily undercut the privatized business and further taxing the privatized sector, a business would not be able to run effectively with a profit. Since public payers are able to negotiate for lower costs, more people would end up in the public plan since it would be cheaper. In the end, there would be very few left in the private system (Clemmit). Even if the drop in the privatized sector were slow, it would still surely happen. An similar example can be seen when subsidies government hospitals started appearing:

    "After 60 years of subsidies for government-run hospitals, the number had fallen to about 10 percent... by the early 1990s government had taken over almost the entire hospital industry. That small portion of the industry that remains for-profit is regulated in an extraordinarily heavy way by federal, state and local governments so that many (perhaps most) of the decisions made by hospital administrators have to do with regulatory compliance as opposed to patient/customer service in pursuit of profit" (DiLorenzo).

    The rate of private hospitals did not immediately drop, but over the years it continually dwindled. Juxtapose economic effects, the quality of healthcare would diminish.

    While the economy would suffer, so would the quality of healthcare. In nearly every aspect - if not all - the quality of healthcare would drop. Throughout the world in nations with socialized medicine there are needless deaths, "In the UK as well — thanks to nationalization, price controls, and government rationing of healthcare — thousands of people die needlessly every year because of shortages of kidney dialysis machines, pediatric intensive care units, pacemakers, and even x-ray machines" (DiLorenzo). Along with needless deaths, the care for patients drop tremendously. The drop in care would not only lack in technology to help find things such as tumors, but also in getting a doctor's appointments, or even being treated for something such as third degree burns. When a socialized system screenings for diseases become less frequent. In the U.K. mammograms do not take place until someone is 50 and then once every 3 years while in the U.S., the age is 40, and it is once every 1-2 years (Lloyd). With mammograms being done less often, it is possible for someone to have breast cancer and not even know it. All of this is done in order to cut funding. In the U.S., it is quite easy to call a general physician and get an appoint for the next day. This is not the cases in somewhere such as Canada, or the U.K. "Unlike a GP, whom you can almost always see the same or next day, visiting a specialist in the U.K. can take considerably longer. Current NHS guidelines demand that all patients be seen within 18 weeks of a referral..." (Lloyd). It is not only harder to get a general doctor's appointment, but it is also quite difficult when it is an emergency. The quality of healthcare and the side effects it can be seen in such a case when 23 of 25 of Toronto's hospitals turned away ambulances due to not having enough doctors to take care of patients. As well, ambulances have been known to be "stacked up" while heart attack victims can wait hours to be taken care of (DiLorenzo). Socialized medicine would make it increasingly harder to get good care, as well; it would put additional restrictions on the rights of both doctors and patients.

    With the introduction of a socialized system into America, both doctor's and civilian rights would eventually just vanish. Within the ObamaCare bill there are multiple clauses that will completely restrict freedoms. As well, it's wrong that the government is making an attempt to completely redistribute the wealth (Crust.) One being that no matter what one's status (young, healthy, old, etc.) they will pay the same premium (Hogberg). As well, if America was to adopt a system like the U.K. panels would be created that puts a price on human life, "... the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence “has adopted a rule of thumb that health expenditures are inappropriate if they involve spending more than $22,000 to save six months of life" (Clemmitt). These panels would also decide on the type of care citizens receive. It would not be fully up to a doctor to make a decision on one's healthcare, but up to a panel deciding whether someone is "worthy" of receiving care. "This means that government bureaucrats, not individuals and their doctors, inevitably determine who will get medical treatment and who will not, what kind of medical technology will be available, how many doctors there will be, and so forth" (DiLorenzo). Doctors would be heavily limited on the decisions they could make. As well, if someone had the aspirations to be a doctor they could potentially not do it due to the price control the government would have over the positions.
    Which is the better healthcare system for the United States, socialized or privatized medicine? Clearly, privatized healthcare system is much better for the United States. If the U.S. were to attempt to make a transition into socialized medicine, there would be numerous negative effects. This transition would negatively affect both the economy and the lives of everyday citizens. Taxes would increase, privatized healthcare would not be able to survive, and the rights of citizens would diminish. America's privatized medicine should not be transferred to a socialized medicine due to the negative effects it would cause.







    Works Cited
    Clemmitt, Marcia. "Health-Care Reform Is universal coverage too expensive?." 28 Aug. 2009. CQResearcher. Web. 11 Oct. 2011
    Crust, Michael. "Socialized medicine doesn't work." Edmonton Journal 20 July 2009: 13. Print.
    DiLorenzo, Thomas J. "Socialized Healthcare VS. The Laws of Economics." Misses Daily. 28 July 2009. Web. 11 Oct. 2011
    Goldberg, Jonah. "The Reality of Obamacare." Los Angeles Times. 23 March 2010. Web. 11 Oct. 2011
    Hasset, Kevin. "Obamacare Only Looks Worse Upon Further Review: Kevin Hasset." Bloomberg. 1 August 2010. Web. 11 Oct. 2011
    Hogberg, David. "20 Ways ObamaCare Will Take Away Our Freedoms." 21 March 2010. Web.
    11 Oct. 2011
    Lloyd, Delia. "Ten Things You Might Not Know About Socialized Medicine." Politics Daily. October 2009. Web. 11 Oct. 2011
    Williams, Roberton. "The Numbers: How do U.S. taxes compare internationally?" March 16 2009. Web. 11 Oct. 2011

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    Small tip. change "As well, with the lack of such simple necessities - such as machines - there can be un-needed deaths." to "As well, the lack of such simple necessities -such as machines- may lead to un-needed deaths" I say that because I think the second one has a greater impact.
    You might want to check this out too, mainly just the Misc. Tips section.

    http://villavu.com/forum/showthread....+college+paper
    "Do not attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"

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    Alrighty, to bad I turned it in already .

    and thanks for the link :P.

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    You're tmoe? :O

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