79-01-B2
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Health Insurance[edit]
Transcript[edit]I've spoken a number of times about the need to study government medicine in those countries that have chosen socialized medicine and to compare their health care with what we have. In very instance their costs are greater, their ratio of doctors to patients is less, and quality of care is way below ours. This is true even in Canada, no matter how much Senator Kennedy tries to peddle the Canadian medical program to the American people. But we should also study government medicine as we already have it in the United States. Medicaid, our program of care for those on welfare and those who work but receive an income too low to afford medical care, is far more costly than medicine as practiced in our traditional fee-for-service system. In California, for example, the proposed Medicaid budget for next year is $3.8 billion. There are fewer than three million people in California eligible for Medicaid. But, for the sake of discussion, take the figure for eligibles at a full three million and divide that into 3.8 billion. We find the annual health bill per man, woman and child pro-rates out to $1,266 each. It's hard to believe that every one of those three million people will need $1,266 worth of health care next year. We can only assume two things; there is a great deal of over utilization of the program and there must be a tremendous amount of administrative overhead. There's no question that medical treatment has gone up in this inflation-plagued era, but is the only answer a compulsory system, not just for the 10 percent or so who presently don't already have coverage, but for the other 90 percent as well? The government itself admits that Medicaid fraud alone amounts to billions of dollars. Are we to believe it will be any less if government runs all the health care programs in the nation? Beyond the cost factor, do we have a right to order all citizens into a compulsory program? And what kind of precedent do we set if government can tell members of any profession or craft that in order to practice they must become employees of the government? Let me suggest a possible alternative to a compulsory government program -- just for your consideration. About 130 million Americans are now protected by medical and/or hospital insurance policies. How many more would or could afford this if they received an income tax credit of their insurance premiums each year? For those now enrolled in Medicaid, what if the government paid all or part of their premiums (depending on their need) in the medical and hospital insurance plan of their choice? Conceivably, everyone in the country could be covered by private health insurance with no need for a huge government bureaucracy. The people could not only voluntarily choose an insurance company, they could also continue to choose their own doctor. Would government oppose such a plan and, if so, could government pretend its refusal was for any other reason than the fact that the program wasn't compulsory? This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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