Today, we focus on two main questions for health care: 1. Is it a basic human right? and 2. Who should pay for it? I would argue, given that we live in a capitalistic society, we’ve asked the wrong questions.
It’s not about altruistic optimism. It’s about capitalistic meta-success.
Realize this: when your neighbor is successful, it enhances your success. The impact of not having personal health care coverage is far wider than you might notice at first glance. The ripple effect, no matter who you are, will affect you. Why? Because while we are not a socialistic society where all people receive the same or similar benefits/support regardless of skills, education, or effort, we are a society in which people are interdependent. What does that mean? It means that each person’s success or failure affects those around them. In other words, when your American family member is suffering, like it or not, their struggle will have a ripple effect that affects you. How?
For those who don’t believe in abortion – realize that a woman is far more likely to have an abortion if she doesn’t believe she can have a healthy pregnancy or raise a healthy child. For business owners – realize that workers who are sick won’t work at their best, they won’t help your business grow or operate as optimized as it could. Even workers that just worry about the health of their children and their ability to support them is enough to reduce work productivity. For educational systems – realize that students who don’t have health care coverage will miss or drop out of classes for longer than necessary to either self-treat their illnesses or to take additional jobs to pay off their medical bills. For the greater society – realize that when young people don’t get the education they seek, their ability to work up to their potential can’t be optimized because they are too bogged down with bills and untreated illnesses.
It is well accepted that preventative medicine helps maintain better health and that quickly addressed illnesses are easier and cheaper to treat. And yet, as a nation, we seem to struggle to understand what these two points really mean…
A healthy nation is a happier, higher achieving, better educated, and more productive nation.
It’s not about being fair or unfair, expensive or inexpensive – it’s about raising a nation that can operate at its best!
Very good points. Most large companies realize all the benefits you have indicated. However it’s the small business that struggles with the cost of healthcare and needs the financial support in order to also realize the same benefits the large companies do.