NB: While many of us are content to let slide all manner of things on Facebook (third Mafia post today? HIDE), Chip occasionally uses social networking for educational purposes. Over the weekend he got into a very long exchange about healthcare after retweeting a sarcastic comment about the healthcare that Canadians enjoy. After many back-and-forths, this is his final word on the subject. Names have been removed, naturally.
Yes, I'm very passionate about this issue. I think it's because it wasn't until I moved to Montana that I got a real taste of what I expect the majority of people across the country have to deal with regarding health insurance. As I child I was a dependent of an active Army officer. During school, I rarely went to the doctor and when I did, it was covered by student health services. As a young professional out of graduate school, I had the advantage of being part of a union as a state employee in Massachusetts. And, in the Czech Republic, as I've explained, I was covered completely as a result of my legal alien work status.
When I moved to Montana, however, it quickly became apparent that working for a small business with no real buying/negotiating power--that is to say nearly ALL Montana companies--put its employees at a disadvantage. Some call it the "penalty for living in the last best place,'" but now I know that's just part of a carefully constructed communication plan to make employees feel better while they get the shaft.
While higher than in the U.S. of course, the Czech Republic has a relatively low tax rate comparatively. However, I saw the benefits of that slightly higher tax rate all around me. Besides healthcare, I could count on an on-time, clean public transportation system, an in-country and international train system that was reliable and on-time, a monthly stipend to help defray the costs associated with raising a child, a one-time payment for having a child--not to mention my wife's SWEET seven months of paid maternity leave--and, all those eligible for college are able to attend for free, allowing them, upon graduation, to not be saddled with thousands in debt at the beginning of their careers. Those are just a few examples.
The thing about taxes, for me at least, is being able to see what you get for the money. And, perhaps more importantly, in the U.S., what "invisible" taxes you are paying. In 2008, more than 20% of my family's income was used to pay for healthcare--both paying for the plan I was eligible for at work and the out-of-pocket costs forced on me by the plan. 2009 was better only because my son didn't have to spend a night in the hospital and we didn't have another baby like in 2008.
The American attitude about taxes has always flummoxed me. Personally, I like having public services. I like the idea of having well-paid emergency services personnel because when they aren't worried about making ends meet, they can pay attention to me in my time of need. I like the idea of well-groomed parks, clean streets, and sidewalks (don't even get me started on that local issue). Citizens want these services and they want them to run well but the short-term memory loss of how these things are paid for just kills me.
The same goes with healthcare. I agree that we have some of the best healthcare/facilities in the world. The immorality of it all is that only the privileged few have access to them. That's not what our country's foundations are set upon. Our notion of rugged individualism has started to bite us on the ass. A society, by definition, has elected to work toward a common set of goals. Our society, I believe, has lost sight of the fact that individuals in a society must work together for the common benefit of all; that we are part of system that must work together to succeed - not a collection of one-offs that have no relation to each other.