There are a ton of political issues being debated throughout America, and the topic of socialized medicine is one of the most heated ones. Since the government is working towards coming up with a new health care plan, a lot of people have weighed in on their opinion, from celebrities to politicians to common, everyday people, a lot of people seem to have a say on why, without socialized medicine, "millions of people will die."
It's incredibly easy to be the person that supports the idea of everyone receiving medical help free of charge. But it's not so easy to put that idea into place. Socialized medicine shares a common trait with all socialist concepts in that, on paper it looks great, but in practice it is costly of both money and lives.
A prime example of this is the little boy in the United Kingdom who was deemed untreatable by the European court, and is being kept in a hospital to die "with dignity" despite his parent's wishes to bring him to America for an experimental treatment that could possibly save his life. Through GoFundMe, the parents have accumulated enough to money to fly the child to the U.S. and pay for treatments that have proven to help the little boy's condition in the past.
This treatment could extend this boy's life for years, giving the child some quality of life. And even if it failed, it would further medical advancement regarding this rare disease. Since he is 1 of 16 people in the world to have this disease, this is an excellent opportunity for doctors and scientists to learn about the disease and diseases similar to it. Just because something is rare doesn't mean it deserves to be dismissed.
Ultimately, the reason the European court deemed this child untreatable is because they do not believe the child is worth tax-payers' dollars to save. In the end, it will always come down to money and if there is enough of it. And this little boy was not worth the cost to the European government, even though he is worth the entire world to his parents.
Those who fight for a woman's right to choose the fate of her unborn child fall silent when it comes to a parent's right to choose on the fate of their born child. Those who cry for the hypothetical deaths due to no socialized medicine fall silent when the direct use of socialized medicine leads to a very real death. Most people want all the praise of agreeing with "good ideas" but none of the real-life consequences of those said ideas.
Socialized medicine doesn't just fail this little boy. Socialized medicine fails citizens daily. The wait for a general medicine appointment is weeks, maybe even months long in a country with nationwide healthcare. The treatment of patients and the development of advanced medicine is subpar and stunted because of the lack of competition on the market. Wealthy citizens will leave their country and travel to America to receive better medical treatment than they would in their country.
It's completely understandable why someone would support the idea of socialized medicine. Of course people deserve to be treated of illnesses, and no one deserves to die without a fair fight. But, in the end, nationalized healthcare is more about money and resources than saving citizen's lives. The concept of who is worthy of life or not spirals out of control fast. If people don't realize the difficult reality that socialized medicine doesn't truly work, one day they'll be the ones deemed "untreatable" without a second chance or thought.
