I Feel Sick

The healthcare system in the United States of America is broken (as are many systems in this country). Costs are skyrocketing, and the ability of Americans who are considered "middle-class" and below to afford necessary care is dwindling. Nearly fifty million people in the United States are living without health insurance, hoping that a serious, and costly, illness does not befall them. In response to this crisis, many of the current Democratic presidential candidates have advocated, or come out with, plans for national universal healthcare. On the other hand, many of the Republican presidential candidates have rejected ideas for national universal healthcare, despite the fact that the U.S. is the only industrialized nation without it. Thankfully, however, as federal candidates and officials bicker, many states, including New York, are taking action.

On December 4, Gov. Spitzer announced that New York State will be contracting with the Urban Institute in an effort to create a competent universal healthcare system that is specifically designed for our state. I think that this is a good idea, since this is a serious problem that needs addressing. I also think that having states handle the issue instead of the federal governmnet is probably the preferred course of action, for three reasons:

First, in a country as big as the United States, it is not entirely out of the question that the healthcare needs of New Yorkers differ from the healthcare needs of Georgians or Californians. Different states have different problems, and they often cannot be remedied by broad federal legislation, but rather through case-by-case attention.

Second, I am not convinced that a federal law requiring all U.S. citizens to acquire health insurance (such as Sen. Hillary Clinton's plan) is the answer. We live in a "free" society, and we should not be penalizing people for choosing not to participate. Sen. Clinton mentioned an idea where employers would be required to see verification of health insurance prior to hiring an employee, and that, to me, is totally unacceptable.

Third, I believe that fifty individually run universal healthcare systems would be easier to handle than one huge system, especially when you take into account my first point: that different states have distinct and different needs. Fifty may seem like a big number, but each would hopefully be uniquely suited to its population, and much more manageable than a huge federal bureaucracy.

On this issue I would have to defer to the states, but I'm one of the fortunate ones - I have health insurance.