Universal Healthcare

i know...i know...no one wants to come to this blog to hear about my stance or work i've done in this particular field. they come here to read about the meager existence, the musing about pictures and videos found on the internet, or to try to decipher the often cryptic messages that form a cacophony of noise in my incoherent mind. however, there are times when an issue or thought drives its way through the muddled noise and is unique in my head...it is the rare and often elusive, coherent mind.

usually this is sparked by a random inspiration, a narrowing of thought forcibly obtained after hours of studying, or in this case...a chapter in fareed zakaria's book "the post-american world". the essence of the book is not to declare the future dominance of the emerging markets and the effects of globalization, but to stress the concern that while america has spent the better part of this past century pushing the rest of the world to globalize, we have forgotten to do so ourselves.

how does this all tie back into an universal healthcare debate? well, it can easily be said that our working class and middle class employees are often job-locked because of fear of losing their benefits. because of this, we lose potential new ideas that can form new companies that can be new IPOs that can be new global investments that can be new jobs for new americans. we've losing our competitive edge because major companies, hell even the small ones, have to mark up costs and lower wages to cover the benefits of its employees. thus forcing many companies to simply outsource these jobs to locales where benefits are guaranteed...universal.

our familiarity with the word 'outsource' has always been relegated to old-industry jobs...disturbingly referred to as sweatshop labor. but we fail to see our new-industry jobs slipping away because our industries must shell out large portions of their capital to provide benefits for its employees, leaving a lower growth rate. either that or cutting benefits or not providing any at all...like the older airlines or wal-mart.

so for those who don't agree with the idea of universal healthcare because we shouldn't be paying for the lack of personal responsibility of others, i understand that. but there are both micro and macro implications.

on a macro level, having a universal healthcare system may increase individual taxes a little, but it provides a blanket of security to the national workforce which would now be free to explore and be the entrepreneurs america is known for. it will allow car companies and airlines and small business to grow their profit margins, allowing them to reinvest in new technologies and efficiencies and grow our global economy. products would be cheaper for the average consumer, meaning more consumption or more savings. either way, though we might feel an individual pinch, the whole will grow and that benefits us all.

i know that's a lofty statement and coming from a democrat, seems rather characteristic. however, if we must look at it from an individualistic point of view, the benefits are already clear. beyond the fact that goods will be cheaper, most likely the amount paid into a universal system from your taxes will be less than what you forfeit to a private insurer. lets assume (and reminder, this has no scientific or actual practical knowledge behind it) that you make $60,000 a year, you're average health insurance premium would be around $4000...or roughly 7% of your income. now lets say you're paying an increase of about 5% (which is high) due to taxes for a universal system, that would only be about $3000...still less than that premium your paying. so now you're saving money on health insurance, not to mention the money saved by the fact that things will cost less.

so when it comes down to it, which one keeps more money in your pocket...private insurance or universal systems? i'm not advocating eliminating private insurers, they're a major sector of the economy and cannot be disregarded. but when it comes to choosing between a premium and a tax, the only real question should be...which one is cheaper?