I trust that those who have been campaigning so vociferously against the "public option" in healthcare reform will follow through and refuse to use Medicare, Medicaid or VA healthcare should the time come when they desperately need care but can't afford it (owing to limited income as retirees etc.)
I mean it would be grossly unfair to force someone to take government-directed healthcare when they expended so much effort telling us how horrible such a concept would be.
Seems like Americans are long on "fiscal responsibility" except when it comes to healthcare where we pay more, per capita, for healthcare than just about any OECD country yet don't live as long as countries where people pay less. And our healthcare system was ranked #37 in 2000 by the W.H.O.
Besides, it's not like healthcare is a normal market good. I don't seem to see too many folks suffering from aggressive life-threatening illnesses taking the time to do "comparison shopping".
Most Americans probably can't tell you how an MRI works, let alone assess if they need an MRI done. Good luck with "shopping around".
But I am assuming the good folks who have, yet again, kept us from moving forward into the same area that almost every other developed nation has in terms of healthcare, are going to follow through on their convictions. And, when they retire and are living on a fixed income, they will dutifully turn down Medicare and go try to get coverage at a private health insurance company.
Of course that will be easy enough so long as they don't have any pre-existing conditions, or ever been to a doctor for any reason in their life, for that matter! The insurance companies will welcome them with open arms.
Oh yeah, and they'll pay a lot for the insurance too. But that's the free market, isn't it?
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