Self-Rationing Healthcare
Here is an example why America cannot have a socialized healthcare system like Canada, England, etc. Americans want what they want, they want the best, they want it now and they want it for free. Recently, Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) pointed out that a new proposed model will need our citizens to take more responsibility for the cost of their treatment.
He gave a personal example of how do this: When his 10-year-old son recently fell on the driveway one evening and injured his arm, Huizenga waited until the next day to take him to the doctor because it cost less than bringing him to the emergency room that night.
What was the response by the media from this admission?
At a time when Republicans are broadcasting plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act next year, it’s an unsettling proposition that people with an undiagnosed and potentially serious ailment or broken body part should choose to get treated later, or less often, to save money.
Huizenga said he “certainly” would have brought his son to the E.R. that night if he appeared seriously injured. But he’s not a doctor who can make a clear assessment. A broken bone not treated properly, for example, can fuse incorrectly and require a fresh break to heal properly. What appears to be a lingering cold may be pneumonia, which, left untreated, will make a person sicker and cost even more to remedy. Cancer not caught early is much more likely to be fatal.
Yup, this article was from the left’s propaganda arm called the Huffington Post. According to them, EVERY ILLNESS should be brought to the ER. In fact, they were so bothered by what Huizenga said that they called Child Protective Services.
What they don’t understand is that Huizenga was right and the only thing he should have added to his statement (and I am making this up) was that he had a DPC doc who he called and she guided him in his treatment. It is what my patients do. That would have shut these idiots up. It would have allowed him to continue the discussion without these morons hijacking it and trying to make a child abuse claim. The truth is that a free market coupled with personal responsibility is the only way we can fix this mess.
People are amazed when I tell them about all the piddly, stubbed-toe, sniffly nose, minor BS that comes into the ER every day. The funny part however, is that I know very well that some of the people so aghast at stories of minor complaints coming to the ER would do the exact same damn thing if it were themselves.
Patients and there families will not use good judgment until they are forced to balance their own interests, and poisonous pieces like this keep telling them not what they need to hear, but what they want to hear. Conflating “Cancer not caught early is much more likely to be fatal” with an arm skinned on the driveway is just the sort of garbage we’re going to hear a lot more of.