As recent events have once again shown, complete and total disaster awaits us if the government takes control of our health care system. OK, I take that back. Only if you plan on earning enough income to pay taxes will you be hit hard. Everyone else can take a free ride.
I understand the Democratic Party can be reassuring to many people. People hear "public option" and "free health care" and then happily switch over to watch "Family Guy," thinking their big friendly government has their best interests at heart. Unfortunately for those who have to live in the real working world, government health care will be the beginning of a tax nightmare.
The recent election has given us an interesting preview. Many school levies were rejected by voters, denying schools access to additional tax dollars. A common political tactic to pressure voters to accept higher taxes is to retaliate by making cuts to maximize public inconvenience. In this case, schools are threatening to cut popular sport programs for students.
What isn't mentioned is that $0.81 of every $1 taxed goes straight to teachers' salaries and benefits. How can Columbus public schools claim to be so cash-strapped when they receive $12,981 per student while charter schools only get $8,780? Is it possible they are wasting money somewhere and want to make up for it by raising property taxes?
The same thing will happen with government-controlled health care. The average American already pays more than 25 percent of their income in taxes. The government might then have to bump it up to around 50 percent to be more like Europe. Forget about ever lowering it. All politicians need to do is threaten health benefits to incite widespread protests.
Simply put, governments by design are inefficient and wasteful. To foresee what nationalized health care will look like, all we have to do is look at Medicare. Studies have shown billions of dollars are wasted every year on improper and fraudulent disbursements. Medicare spends our money so carelessly that it approves orthopedic shoes for amputees.
Despite what the Democratic Party would have us believe, European countries are now increasingly switching over to the private sector to take care of their health care. After many years of experimentation, they found that the single-payer system just isn't working. It would be the ultimate irony if the United States decides to socialize medicine just as Europe is switching back.
Hiromitsu Masuda
is a senior in business and human resources. He can be reached at masuda.9@osu.edu.
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