However, vanity, greed, lust, and rage may drive people to put their health in danger for the sake of the objects of their pathological passions. Other people, or even the same people, may put their health in danger for love of truth, justice and humanity. Penalties for unhealthy behavior would punish both, but would also punish behavior that is not unhealthy, but is believed to be so by the punishing authorities, or perhaps is not believed by the authorities to be unhealthy, but merely displeases them.

Therefore the wisest policy seems to be: that the government pay for health care and not ration it, but give the doctors complete freedom to prescribe whatever they think is best for the patient. And as long as the doctor is not convicted of criminal malpractice, let the doctor continue to practice and be reimbursed by the government, to a degree sufficient to maintain enough doctors with the needed qualifications to create some competition for patients. Let the patient also, if his condition allows, choose from among all the licensed doctors who are qualified to treat his condition, and pay only for transportation. If his condition does not allow that, he should be rushed to the nearest suitable facility free of charge.

If anyone thinks the above policy is too expensive, he should consider the cost of the mentality that puts a price on human life. Consider the impact that lethal denial of care to the poor, or total financial ruin of the under-insured, including many who thought their insurance was adequate, has on our mental health, and look at the cost of what we tolerate: speculator bailouts greater than our Gross Domestic Product, biofuels, wind and solar, rejection of nuclear power, rejection of nuclear rockets, outsourcing everything from manufacturing to airplane maintenance to technical support, laying off all the people with the right stuff at NASA, “preventative” war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the staggering administrative costs of private HMOs, much of which is borne by doctors who have to maintain bill-collecting and litigation agencies because of the HMOs, and the cost of malpractice insurance, driven sky-high by the feeling of victimization that results when a sick or injured person has to pay medical bills out-of-pocket, and the desire of judges to get re-elected by a constituency that feels victimized. For President Obama to uphold the statement of his Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag, that health care is the cause of the budget deficit, and not bailouts, lack of productive employment, and perpetual war, demonstrates his hostility to the human species! Why on earth do we let Obama be President? Victimization.

This is the most worrying concern I have heard about socialized healthcare in the US, and I take the idea pretty seriously.

Luckily, I can say that, having lived under the Canadian healthcare system for many years now, that hasn’t been my experience here.

Not to say it couldn’t happen, here or there, and I do think it’s a valid concern. Just not one I’ve seen play out, as yet.