It seems the Tories are racing towards NHS privatisation. Is this a good idea? I used to think so. Until recently, viewing the behaviour of many speakers in the US during their healthcare "debate".
Why should healthy people have to pay for the unhealthy? The government can't even run the post office effectively, let alone healthcare! Universal healthcare will lead to "death panels". The government will control your health. The free market is always more efficient ect ect ect...
These are all the sorts of arguments put forward on the anti-universal healthcare side.
The bottom line is, having lived in a country which has universal healthcare, I just dont' feel any of the accusations are true.
The fact is, we are blessed to live in a country where we can access medical care free at the point of need.
The idea that anyone should have to live in fear of getting ill because they do not have enough money to get access to decent medical attention is crazy.
The poor mother with little money cares just as much about her childs health as a rich person cares about their children. Why should people with more money get access to better treatment?
It is true that the NHS has faced long waiting lists, but you need to question why this is the case. Have we had governments in power over the last 30 to 40 years which are committed to the NHS? No, we have not. We have had governments which have continually privatised and slashed funding.
The previous Labour government unfortunately continued the trend of moving the NHS toward privatisation, however, it did increase NHS funding- and in my opinion, improvements have been noticable.
As for why should healthy people pay the price for unhealthy people, this happens with insurence premiums under private systems anyway. And if you happen to belong to a certain "group" which is deemed more likely to need medical attention, you will pay the price.
Does free healthcare encourage unhealthy lifestyles? I really don't see this as being the case.
The very people who advocate the "minimal government" , "abolish the NHS" argument would also have tobacco advertising made legal again, taxation on cigarettes and alcohol would be abolished, regulations on the food industry would be torn up and got rid of.
The idea that living in fear of being able to afford medical treatment will encourage healthy lifestyles doesn't seem to hold ground in reality. America has tremendous problems with obesity, yet it does not have universal healthcare.
The media frequently blast the NHS and talk about how it "fails" to deliver the care people need, but when do you ever see a newspaper headline praising the hard work of Doctors and Nurses and the many lives which are saved every single day??
Finally, to borrow an economic term, I think it is clear that health is an externality. That is, it is in your interests that not only are you healthy, but that the people living in the community around you are healthy.
The strict individualism of the hard right does not play out in reality. Health IS a social issue. There is such a thing as "public health" and it should be of concern to all of us.
