Michael Moore ' s Sicko Misses Best Solution: Health Savings Accounts

Michael Moore ' s Sicko Misses Best Solution: Health Savings Accounts

Michael Moore ' s new movie SICKO is a humorous and at times emotionally moving look-see at the state of U. S. healthcare, but it promotes a solution ( government healthcare ) that would only make matters worse. Instead of more bureaucracy and government control, we should be encouraging competition among healthcare providers and personal encumbrance among consumers. Health savings accounts, or HSAs, do just that, and are the future of healthcare in America.
Many people credit that a government take - over of healthcare coverage, called a " single - payer " system, is the answer. But if one cleverly looks at the countries that currently have single - payer systems, it is fairly apparent that they are failed systems, with the people of these countries clamoring for quarters.
Because demand goes up when prices go down, the only way a government that provides " free " healthcare can control cost is by limiting access. So commonality in countries with single - payer systems always suffer long waits and lack of access to medical care and technologies.
For instance, in Canada there are currently over 800, 000 people on waiting lists for medical procedures. The wait time for people who are referred for surgery is very long and can sometimes take over six months! If it weren ' t for the detail that thousands of Canadians come to the U. S. each year for treatment, the average wait times would be even longer.
Per capita, Canada only has 20 % the number of MRIs that the U. S. has, and only 14 % as many CAT Scans. There are hundreds of prescription drugs available in the U. S. that are not yet available in Canada as they try to control costs.
The where in Britain is no better, with over 1 million people currently on waiting lists. In June Britain ' s Health Department get going that 1 in 8 patients waits over a year for to be surgery, and shortages are forcing more than 50, 000 operations to be cancelled each year.
Waiting for surgery is not just an pain; it can mean the idiosyncrasy between living and quietus. For instance, in the U. S. the survival scale for stage 1 colon cancer is 90 %; in Britain it is 70 %. American women diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer have a 97 % survival proportion after 5 years; in Britain it ' s only 78 %.
As Americans contemplate copying these failed systems, populace in Europe and Canada are headed in the opposite direction. Germany just recently passed laws to exalt insurance competition, Sweden has even now privatizing some of its healthcare, and millions of Europeans are the nod ways to ordain - out of their government healthcare systems.
In Britain there are now over 6. 5 million people who take private insurance, despite the availability of " free " coverage from their NHS. Greater 250, 000 self - wad each year for private surgery as they can not, or are not willing to wait. Even the Labour party now favors privatization of healthcare in Britain.
In 2005 the Canadian Supreme negotiator issued a ruling which stated, " The prohibition on receipt private health insurance... is not constitutional where the public system fails to deliver unbiased services. " Private healthcare clinics are now opening in Canada at the percentage of five per month.
Unfortunately, subservient a socialized system, your body and your life are no longer below your control.
Isn ' t it amazing that some of the equivalent people who censure government ineptness - including Katrina, the many screw - ups in the conflict on terror, No Child Destitute Behind, and more - actually guess the government would do a good job managing the nation ' s healthcare?
Freedom, choice, and innovation are what have liable us the highest quality healthcare in the world. We unquestionably do need spending money, but the answer is less government push, not more. By encouraging consumer - on ice solutions, competition, and price transparency, we can help avoid the healthcare blow that government control would bring.
One big part of the solution that is extant beginning is the adoption of Health Savings Accounts. Over five million Americans up-to-date have an HSA set up, and over five billion dollars is today invested in these primary bank accounts.
People who have an HSA can set aside money to pay for future medical expenses, and get a tax deduction to do so. Because you must have a high - deductible health plan to contribute to an HSA, these plans reassure people to more carefully spend their healthcare dollars, since money they don ' t spend stays in the HSA.
The result is that medical providers once also are competing for customers by lowering prices, and increasing quality and convenience. Topical we are seeing plummeting prices on prescription drugs, and low - cost medical clinics spring up in Wal - Mart and other retail locations.
As more and more people obtain HSAs, we will not only see a benefit for the consumers, but we will also eventuate to see more people who take a proactive perspective when it comes to their health. A Health Savings Account owner who exercises and chop chop right will likely have a much larger balance in their account by the time they surrender.
These changes will conclusion in a healthier and wealthier group of retirees and a smaller burden on our tax system in the future.