The war against a single payer system of health care or something approaching it, has flared in America in the wake of the return to power of the Democratic Party whose advocates are championing the drive to endow America with a civilized system of health care.
Representing those who wish to
maintain the status quo, Christopher Jacobs wrote an article in which he
attacked what he calls, “socialized medicine.” It came under the title, “CBO:
If Democrats Push Socialized Medicine, Get Ready For Rationing,” and the
subtitle: “CBO's work provides important context about Democratic health-care
proposals, including the end goal for most on the left: a full government
takeover of health care.” The article was published on February 5, 2021 in The
Federalist.
What Christopher Jacobs has
done, is tell the readers something that went like this: The Congressional
Budget Office (CBO) released a report on what would happen if the government
decided to take over and run the system of health care. I, Christopher Jacobs,
shall not give you a summary of the report, but will do something else. I'll
tell you what I think of the system that's proposed by the Democrats while
pretending that the CBO report supports my point of view … which I don't care
if it does or does not.
And so, Christopher Jacobs
went ahead and wrote a long and tedious muddle of a mishmash that would confuse
even the most dedicated of experts on the subject. But Jacobs did not care,
having already decided how he'll end the article. He thought he’d dredge an old
idea from the dustbin of history and use it to scare the living daylight out of
the public. He told the readers that “socialized medicine” will lead to
rationing.
But what is rationing, anyway?
The best way to answer this question is to give an example. Here it is:
Think of a low-income country
that has neither money nor credit to import much of anything from abroad. Under
normal conditions its farmers produce enough food to adequately feed the
population. One bad year, the country experienced a crop failure, producing
only 80% of what it normally does ... a shortfall of 20%. This means that not
everyone in the country will get what they need, and there will have to be
rationing of what's available. But how do you do that? Will you segregate 20%
of the population and tell it: You're out of luck; there will be no food for
you this season so that the others may get their fill? Or will you say that
everyone will get fed, but not to the same extent as the previous years. That
is, everyone will get only 80% of how much they used to?
Can something like this happen
to a middle income or high-income country? Yes, it can even during normal
times. For example, middle income countries might ration staples like cooking
oil, sugar or flour to save the hard currency they will use to buy production
machines and fulfill the plan to industrialize the country. As to the
high-income countries, they might be involved in a foreign war, and forced to
ration fuel or copper so that some of the commodities may be diverted to feed
the war effort.
There are many systems by
which the rationing of food items is implemented. The most popular is to issue
a monthly ration card for every family. The card is taken to the store and
shown to the sales clerk that verifies the customer has gathered the correct
amount of a designated staple. He punches the card to make sure it will not be
used again during the month. That's well and good when it comes to rationing a
tangible staple, but how do you ration a service?
To answer this question, I
must backtrack a little and advise that what has been said so far, may come
under a rubric that reads: “Physical method to implement rationing.” But there
is another method that may be called “virtual rationing” or better yet:
“Rationing by crass Capitalism.” This one lets the marketplace decide who gets
what and how much of it ... all done according to a simple formula. It goes
like this: When the staple or the service is in short supply, the price goes
up. The more money you have, the more you can buy. Otherwise, it is tough luck
for you, poor bugger.
This form of rationing health
care is in force right now in the United States of America. And so, when Jacobs
complains about the Democrats causing rationing, he means that they will
replace the existing form of rationing by one they believe is better, and he
does not. That is, instead of telling the rich they are such a lovable bunch
they should get all the care they can buy while telling the rest to “eat cake,”
the Democrats want to make health care available to everyone whether or not
they have the means to pay for it.
The question now is this: Can
a shortage happen in America that will cause everyone to get less care than
they need? It might have been difficult to answer this question before the
COVID -19 pandemic. But this is no longer the case because the pandemic has
shown what can be accomplished in America and for that matter, everywhere else
in the world.
Two shortages happened at the
start of the pandemic. They were lack of enough medical equipment and other
supplies, and lack of enough medical personnel.
Lack of equipment and other
supplies was solved by invoking the existing war measures, and compelling the
production companies to divert their resources for making what’s needed in the
fight against the pandemic. The approach worked as flawlessly as can be.
As to the shortage of medical
personnel, the problem was remedied by the existing personnel working overtime.
It was hard on them for a time, but this was due to the reality that they faced
a surprise pandemic that hit with unexpected force. It will not happen under
normal conditions.
What COVID-19 has taught
America is that the Democrats are correct. The country can have a single payer
system that will work like a charm. It will give the entire population the best
health care the country ever had, and will deliver it at a lower cost. That’s
what we have here in Canada, and in every civilized nation on Earth.
Instead of letting characters
such as Christopher Jacobs insult the intelligence of the public to then go
after their wallets, America should implement a system that will help heal the
body and mind of those that need it.
Christopher Jacobs might himself benefit from such a system.