A May 19 editorial in The Lantern advocated giving greater power to the World Health Organization in dealing with the SARS epidemic on the grounds that the issue of public health supersedes national boundaries.
This is an issue with which U.S. citizens – even those who are not afflicted with SARS – can identify, because the current system of providing health care has so much room for improvement.
It is a truth almost universally acknowledged that health management organizations have led to a lower quality of health care for many U.S. citizens. Having gigantic corporations “streamline” health care has turned public health into an industry – one concerned more with profit than with results.
Doctors under the HMO system may forgo testing or recommend a less effective treatment on the grounds that the extra care would be an unnecessary expense. But when it comes to someone’s life, no expense should be too great.
This type of care is given to only the lucky people who can afford to pay for it. It is a sad fact that many Americans are unable to afford health insurance. Under the HMO system, those who are uninsured have no option but simply to not get sick or injured. If they have the misfortune to break an arm or come down with the flu, the doctor’s bills are crippling.
The United States should not have a system of health care in which some of its citizens are bankrupted by trying to stay healthy. The government needs to move away from a privatized health care system and toward a more socialized system. Health should not be treated as an industry but rather as a public concern.
Those who are opposed to government-funded health care point out the flaws of the system in countries such as Great Britain, where the rich and middle-class get good care but the poor are subjected to waiting in long lines to receive treatment. However, a system that forces the poor to wait for care is still a marked improvement from one that leaves people without any health care option whatsoever.
Some of the Democratic presidential candidates have advocated health care plans that, while still run by private corporations, allow universal coverage with government backing. This is a step in the right direction. No one should have to let health problems go untreated.
