With a national health care system negotiating wages for medical professionals, there is little doubt that nurses will be at the bargaining table wanting more and more. More money. More benefits. Better working conditions. The end result: Higher medical costs.
Following the nurses will benurses aides, then the medical technicians without which no hospital or medical practice an operate. The end result: Higher medical costs.
One of the current obstacles to the health care reform passage is fees to be paid to doctors. This week, there is an unfunded bill in the Senate that would hand doctors $247 billion more than they would otherwise receive for their Medicare services over a ten-year period. This bill has been introduced primarily to � ���"buy� �� � support from physiciansfor the health care reform bills. If physicians are this powerful without a union, consider how powerful they will be when they unionize. There can be little doubt that, over time, they too will unionize, especially if their salaries are to be based on merit and performance. They will be demanding better working conditions and benefits.
Health care unions will be able to hold the entire health care program hostage. It is doubtful they would go on strike because the services they provide are essential, but they would be able to participate in work slow-downs, which would impact the public greatly. Ultimately, they will be able to get what they demand.
Whether health professionals unionizing would be beneficial to the overall scheme of health care, such as better services and more dedicated employees, is open to debate. It is important to keep in mind that the most criticized unions in America today are teacher's unions. They are blamed for many of the perceived ills of the education system, such as maintaining a � ���"status quo� �� � for unqualified educators. Whether this same affliction would affect health care unions is difficult to say; however, with an influx of new patients to the health care system, such is a distinct possibility.
Economics Will Prevail
Proponents of health care reform continually point out that between 18,000 and 22,000 people die each year without health insurance. In considering this figure, it is important to note that this is an aggregate figure and does not include anomalies such as individuals who voluntarily are without health insurance or those who die in accidents prior to medical care being accessed. The number of Americans who are without insurance by their own free will is largely unknown. The number of people without health insurance is estimated to be approximately 40 million people -- approximately 13% of the population. Even with current reforms being proposed, it is still estimated that 10 million Americans will still be uninsured.
For Americans to be concerned about only 13% of the population is a rarity. Rather than having altruistic concerns for the less fortunate, the primary motivations for health care reform are primarily efforts designed to reduce an individual's own medical costs, inclusive of health insurance costs as well as burdens placed on the taxpayers by uninsured people. To feign concern for the less fortunate is most likely disingenuous since proponents are all hoping to reduce their own costs in the process.
Proponents uniformly claim that those who do not have health insurance cannot afford coverage. Again, there is no reliable data to support this claim being made across the board. They also claim that many who do have health insurance cannot afford that coverage; however, they fail to provide any statistical evidence to support that claim. Others claim that even though people may have health insurance, many forego medical treatments because they are unable to afford the deductibles written into their health insurance policies. In making this and other claims, proponents of health care reform are not providing any statistical evidence or information, other than anecdotal, that people are genuinely unable to afford the coverage or deductibles, or are just unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices in other areas of their lives.
Proponents of health care reform are excited at the prospect of receiving tax credits for the purchase of health insurance, as well as lower premiums. These tax credits could be available for people earning up to $200,000 per year.
What people seem to be forgetting is that every $1 tax credit represents $1 less in taxes being collected at the federal and state level in states that also have income taxes. With a $1.4 trillion deficit already, and with most states facing budget shortfalls due to lower tax collections, the impact will be disastrous.
When governments are short of revenue, they tax individuals and businesses. Proponents say that businesses and the rich should be taxed more heavily, which in theory sounds quite good. However, what they seem to ignore is the fact that the higher taxes a business has to pay, the prices of the goods and services increases accordingly. Hence, the cost of living goes up.
The revolving door of economics will block everyone's path to financial security. When taxes go up, the costs of goods and services go up. When those costs go up, then the working person wants higher wages. Higher wages means that the costs of goods and services go up. No one's standard of living actually rises. The only way that people's standard of living can increase at that point is to utilize credit. The current economic climate demonstrates quite amply what happens when people begin relying on credit for things they cannot afford.
Admittedly, there is a significant amount of waste and fraud in the current health system. Many things and people can be blamed for the waste. Unnecessary tests for example. Doctors can be blamed for trying to increase their own profits as well as for attempting to avoid malpractice suits. Pharmaceutical companies are blamed for the high costs of drugs, and for making what some consider to be excessive profits. The � ���"blame game� �� � and � ���"blame list� �� � can go on ad infinitum, but it most frequently ignores one of the primary culprits for rising health care costs. That culprit is the medical services consumer.
The medical services consumer is very demanding. He demands that every effort be made to save a life, despite the impracticality of those actions. He wants his loved ones to be kept alive as long is possible --especially if he does not have to pay the bills himself. He would rather go to the emergency room when it is convenient for him, rather than either applying logical and well known home remedies or waiting for an opening with his personal physician. He wants a pill for every little minor thing. Of course, he doesn't take all the pills that he is prescribed to take, but instead flushes them down the toilet, thus putting unnecessary demands on the environment. He demands that the medical system keep him in � ���"tip top� �� � health as he waddles out of Micky D's with two quarter pounders and cheese for his mid-afternoon snack.
Add to this a minimum 30-million more people who suddenly will have unfettered access to health care services. The medical professionals are going to be overwhelmed and start demanding higher wages, more benefits and better working conditions. Rather than seeing medical costs go down, they will go up exponentially with the demands being placed on the system.
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