The fundamental problem with Health Care in America is that the people involved expect impossible things from it. As long as you strive for impossibility you will be eternally disappointed and will go broke trying to attain it.
Here’s how to fix your problem:
Realize that getting old and dying is part of life. No matter how much exercise and healthy life style you indulge in, no matter which vices you avoid, no matter how carefully you live your live, no matter how much money is spent repairing the damage, in the end, you will all grow old and die. Accept that unpleasant fact and deal with it gracefully and the medical care problem becomes much more tractable.
Demand that individuals become responsible for their own health. If you pay for somebody else’s health care, don’t come crying to me if they ruin their health with bad living and then bankrupt you in their quest for endless futile and ruinously expensive health care. If you as a society attempt to pay for everybody’s health care, this problem becomes several orders of magnitude bigger.
Individual people must be held accountable for their behavior. People who live healthy lives will generally have few health problems and lower health care expenses. Those who do not will usually have more health problems and health care expenses. All individuals must choose which course is right for them and either enjoy or bear the consequences.
Accept that medical care is a choice that individual people can choose or not. Life is a constant battle to balance infinite desire, finite resources, and an acceptable outcome. You cannot have everything you want, such as endless perfect health. All people have the responsibility to balance health care expenditures against everything else they want in life. If you choose to buy more booze, cigs, and hookers, then you will necessarily have less money to spend on doctors. Doing so is your choice and you are responsible for the consequences of your behavior.
You don’t believe this? Then tell me, have you ever been nearby a minor injury or illness when the conscience on your left shoulder whispered “take him to the doctor” while the other conscience on your right shoulder whispered “nah, that’s too much trouble, he’ll get better on his own.” ? What choice did you make?
Return reason and rationality to the medical marketplace. When a loved one falls ill, there is a natural tendency for those around him to act as if money is no object. That of course is foolishness because you all have finite resources. An irrational quest to consume inordinate resources on a futile endeavor will not save the doomed, but it will harm the survivors. What good is that?
Abolish medical insurance. Medical insurance amplifies many of these social ills afflicting medical care. People with insurance are utterly unconcerned about the cost of their medical care and are completely fixated on getting as much of it as they can for free. More people thus seek more medical care, which drives up the cost for everybody else.
The health care industry, the insurance companies, and their politicians, all feed off of their slices of the money that flows through their fingers. It is in their interest to enhance this slice. Every piece of this industry has become bloated and gold plated. This is good for them in the short haul, but it’s bad for you-the-people. Because of the skyrocketing expense of health care, most of you have no choice but to therefore scramble for insurance lest you get no health care at all.
But the health-insurance shell game is going to be paid for by somebody. As you notice political pressure to expand coverage to more people and more conditions, ask yourself where that pressure is coming from, who will benefit, and who will pay in the end. (Hint: find a mirror).
Good luck
