The debate surrounding universal health care in America continues to grow. On the surface the idea of universal health care sounds nice. Everyone would be covered and everyone would be able to receive the same level of care. Sounds great right? Wrong!
If we want to know the effects of government run health care we need look no further than the Denti-cal system in California. In California, low income families and individuals qualify for free government sponsored dental care because they are unable to afford insurance. Let’s examine this free “insurance” and the lessons it teaches us about government run health care.
1. The Government reimburses the dentist or specialist at about 33% of the normal going rate per procedure.
Due to this very low payment level most dentists in California do not accept Denti-cal. Those that do know that to make enough money to keep their practice afloat they must see about 4 times as many patients as those dentists who do not accept Denti-cal. What does this mean for these patients who are on government run dental care? Less time with their doctor, longer waits for an appointment and longer waits in the waiting room, Cheaper (translate to worse) materials used in their mouth, and an overall worse experience. There are many dentists who want to be able to care for these patients since they are often those at the highest risk but the dentist must also earn enough money to keep their small business alive. (Obama’s tax increases on small business will only further decrease the number of available clinics for these patients.)
2. The government decides what care can be delivered.
Normally when you go to the doctor they will discuss your condition and will recommend the ideal and best treatment for you. This is not the case when the Government is making the decisions. Denti-cal does not pay for crowns (caps) on your back chewing teeth, if a patient needs a crown to save a back tooth they are out of luck. Denti-cal will pay for them to get it taken out though because the cost of pulling a tooth is much much cheaper. Another example is the need for a partial denture. If a patient is missing a few teeth on the top or bottom of their mouth a normal course of treatment would be to get a partial denture to replace their missing teeth. (a partial denture is a removable prosthesis that fills in spaces and improves a patient’s appearance and ability to chew and speak). 
Unfortunately for these patients Denti-cal does not cover partial dentures. They do cover full dentures which do not function as well. This leaves the doctor and the patient in a very difficult situation. Do you pull out all of the rest of the teeth (which are perfectly fine) so that the patient is able to eat or do you leave the patient in the current unhealthy situation? Either way, the patient’s health is severely compromised.
Now imagine the consequences if this were a life or death situation. Do you want your doctor being restricted in the materials and techniques they use because your government run insurance doesn’t want to pay?
You are probably thinking to yourself, this is ridiculous and completely unfair to the patient and the doctor. You are right. The problem is that it is not doctors who are deciding what will and will not be covered by government insurance, it is the senators, congressmen, and politicians who are always looking for ways to decrease the budget. With the current 9% approval rating do we really want these people making these decisions for our doctors?
3. Government run health insurance is tied to the budget.
When the government is in charge of your insurance the insurance is tied to the budget. Just last year in California there was a budget problem and the proposal was floated to cut the Denti-cal program. It was later agreed to cut the Denti-cal budget by 10%. This further decreased doctors’ ability to provide competent and useful health care for their patients. Look at the current national budget. Do you really want your health insurance tied to a budget that is already over 10 trillion dollars in debt?
4. There is no such thing as free health care.
You will be paying for your health care and for the health care of everyone else. There is no way to create universal health care without severely increasing taxes. Even though you would not be making a payment at the doctor’s office you would be making huge payments out of every pay day check you earn.
The idea of government run universal health care will continue to be pushed by candidates like Barack Obama. It will always sound good on the surface but it is important to actually examine the effects government run health care would have on you and your family.
It is true that there are too many people who currently do not have access to care and it is an issue that must be addressed. However creating a government sponsored system which would allow politicians to severely handicap your doctor’s ability to provide you with the best treatment is clearly not the answer. When it comes to health care we cannot settle for mediocre.
October 5, 2008 at 6:23 pm |
Thank you! Its something canidates use to sweeten their ideas but something that will never ever happen and shouldnt. Im glad someone has sense. LOL
October 6, 2008 at 5:05 am |
universal health care means everyone is treated equally. Dentists and doctors don’t have the option of treating on patient different from any other, because every patient is within the health care system.
In your example you mention that the government reimburses the treatment specialist a percentage of what they would normally get. This doesn’t apply to universal health care, because most doctors would receive either a certain salary per month or would be paid according to how many patients are treated, depending upon which system is used. It’s not about getting a percent.
You also mention that the government decides which care is covered. Again you are using the california example which doesn’t really apply.
There are too many mistakes in your logic to go into this further and I really do suggest you do a bit more research before writing about something you clearly have no concept of.
Good luck.
October 6, 2008 at 4:52 pm |
You say everyone is treated equally but you clearly do not understand how things work. It is a nice thought to say all patients would be treated the same but only one of two things actually happens. Those with government sponsored health care are treated worse or everyone is treated worse….though as you say equally worse.
Giving doctors a salary per month or paying them based on number of patients would create the exact same problems that I spoke of in the article. The doctors would be forced to treat more patients than they feel comfortable. The patients would have less time with their doctors and the waiting lists would continue to grow. Also less people would decide to pursue a career in medicine since the system you are advocating punishes doctors. Regardless if the system chosen was to pay doctors a percent or on number of patients seen, the consequences are the exact same.
I do mention that the government decides which care is covered because it is true. The California example does apply. Already there are restrictions on government care. Perfect example is prescriptions. Certain drugs are covered while others aren’t. Tylenol III is covered but Vicodin is not even though there are more gastrointestinal complications with Tylenol III.
I have done plenty of research and have experienced this first hand. I would like to hear more of your logic but your current comment shows that it is you who does not have a clear concept of the consequences of Universal Health Care.
October 15, 2008 at 2:57 pm |
maturehealth is right, no offense but the Denti-cal program doesn’t fit actual government controlled universal healthcare. When you say “experienced” where did you experience this? Did you go outside the U.S. where universal healthcare was provided? I doubt you did because China, Russia, and the EU certainly does not fit in the description that you gave. Yes, taxes are increased a bit but the payoff is very high. Everyone gets equal care and they do interact as much as they want with their doctors. Many medical options are offered as well as better medical techniques. Citizens in other countries are by far much healthier than Americans and I’m not referring to obesity only. nor food but medicine. U.S. medicine is palliative, medicine used by the universal healthcare is curative. I’d rather pay a lot of taxes and get the full effect rather than go broke here because of expensive costs for the doctor and medication and I still die for something that could have been fixed.
November 3, 2008 at 11:26 am |
It’s true that Universal Health care sounds nice and inviting to anyone but I can see your point with it, and if everyone is treated equally you wouldn’t hear any bad comments such like this. But wait, maturehealth point also makes sense and I have to agree with it, I guess we really need more effort to research before saying things that we will regret in the end, and besides, I don’t want to eat my words when the time comes that I am benefiting from that health care.
April 11, 2009 at 6:32 pm |
Finally someone who can write a good blog ! I loved your post and will be telling others about it. Subscribing to your RSS feed now. Thanks
April 11, 2009 at 6:32 pm |
Great stuff. Nice to read some well written posts that have some relevancy !
August 2, 2009 at 8:18 am |
This blog and comments supporting the blog probably come from people who have health insurance and are able to pay for it.
How about for those millions and millions of people who cannot afford health insurance, cannot visit doctors because they cant pay for the expensive bill, etc.
Duh everyone’s taxes will be increased. We live in a country where everything is about Me, me, me. Will Americans ever be able to think about others besides themselves? Yes, I live here because of good reasons, but honestly I dont like this country too much.
Most of you will say, then leave! haha. Nice one.
Free health care for all? OMG, just think about it. Just wait until the day when you or someone you know or someone close to you cannot be cared for because they cannot afford healthcare, then only will you know the real effects that many Americans go through everyday.
August 5, 2009 at 10:40 pm |
to the above grimmyrip first.. i think your comment should be about how the health care system and drug companies need to be focused on curring people, they don’t do this because they don’t make any money if people arn’t sick.
i’m a california native and havn’t been a recipient of denti- cal b/c i don’t qualify to say that there is no resemblance is blindness, who’s to say that the govn’t is going to pay for you to get what ever medical procedure you want… that’s pretty arogant considering it doesn’t happen in the countries that have national health care. The change needs to come from with in the the center of the problem, insurance companies, FDA( if any american thinks this entity has your best interest in mind today you need to be smacked), and drug companies, there only goal is to keep americans sick so long as they don’t know any better,there’s our problem not the free market health care.
August 7, 2009 at 5:29 pm |
http://nmorton.wordpress.com/2009/08/07/thoughts-on-the-on-going-health-care-debate/