As I planned to consider all kinds of perspectives on the health care reform, today I will start with the conservatives’ attitude towards it. This was the first time I really did some research on their point of view and I was surprised to find out that they actually do not neglect a health care reform in principle. Actually, they do see a problem with the health care system in the United States and want to change it, but they are not happy with the way Obama does it. So here are some of their main points:
- The health care system should not be turned upside down at once. Not everything is that bad, so small reforms year after year will do perfectly well. The slogan here seems to be “Slow down!”
- They oppose the current reform so strongly because they feel like there are only two ways, yes and no, but no alternative concepts accepted
- A health care reform should focus on the improvement of health care itself and not mainly on health insurance, destroying private insurance companies.
- Improving the general access to health care and insurance is more realistic than guaranteeing coverage.
- Nationwide competition will help to improve health care instead of harming it, as bad service will loose patients and insurance prices will decrease automatically.
- Making health care dependent on government ignores and violates America’s distinctive American identity as it is a step towards the European model of well fare states. Self-reliance has always been important to the American people.
Of course, this is just an extract of the wide range they cover. In order to get more detailed commentary, see this post on redstate.com dealing with a number of arguments in detail. As this blog describes itself as “right centre”, be aware of their bias.
Besides, the article “Conservative Perspectives on Health Care Reform” by Justin Quinn is quite interesting, too. Both links offer complementary information and they helped me to develop an idea of the conservative positions and their arguments.
By the way, yesterday I was very happy to have health insurance again. I had to see the dentist because my cheek was swollen. The x-ray showed that one of my wisdom teeth needs to be extracted and it caused me an infection. I am on medication now until monday and as I was curious about it, I found out what all this would have cost me in the U.S.: approx. $1000 including everything... That would be quite a lot for an undergraduate like me.
