• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Blog Home
  • Topics
    • Keystone Press Releases
    • Politics and Government
    • Legislation
    • Nevada News
    • Tourism & Gaming
    • Rural Nevada
    • Business
    • Opinion
  • Membership
  • Contact Us
  • About Keystone Nevada

Keystone Nevada Korner

Welcome to The Keystone Korner The Official Blog of Keystone Nevada

Home » COMMENTARY: Health care is not a ‘right,’ no matter what progressives say

COMMENTARY: Health care is not a ‘right,’ no matter what progressives say

July 3, 2022 by Pauline Lee

by Sally C. Pipes, Special to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, July 3, 2022

At the recent unveiling of his latest plan for “Medicare for All,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., evoked a familiar theme. “Health care,” he said, “is a human right that all Americans, regardless of income, are entitled to.”

But health care is neither a right nor a privilege.

Health care is an aggregate of goods and services. The task of health policy is to ensure timely, affordable access to these goods and services for all who need them — and to do so without sacrificing the quality of care.

Medicare for All would outlaw private health insurance and grant everyone a right to public coverage. All Americans would have an insurance card with their name on it. But as real-world evidence from Medicare for All-like systems abroad makes clear, access to coverage is not the same as access to care.

That’s because there’s a limited supply of health care, just like any other good or service. Unlimited demand — fueled by Medicare for All’s promise that care will be free at the point of delivery — paired with limited supply is a recipe for shortages, long waits and suffering far worse than anything Americans see under our current system.

Great Britain’s National Health Service, the single-payer system established in 1948, has subjected patients to life-threatening treatment delays and subpar care for generations. And that crisis has grown only more acute in recent years.

According to a report released in May, a record-high 6.4 million patients in England were waiting for care. A separate study released May 31 by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine found that a lack of capacity in NHS emergency rooms was causing “real patient harm” and was a “serious patient safety crisis.”

In Canada, the situation is much the same. The typical wait time for Canadian patients to receive specialist care following referral by a general practitioner is more than 25 weeks, according to the Fraser Institute, a Vancouver-based research organization. Median wait times in some provinces now exceed a year.

It’s no surprise, then, that more than 200,000 Canadians leave the country to seek care, according to a 2017 analysis from SecondStreet.org, a Canadian think tank.

Single-payer absolutists in the United States almost never acknowledge the bleak conditions in these and other government-run health systems. On the contrary, these are the very health care schemes Sanders lauds when he laments that America is “the only major country on Earth that does not guarantee health care to all of its citizens.”

But in what sense does the United Kingdom or Canada “guarantee health care to all its citizens”? Months- or yearslong waits for needed care mock such guarantees. As former Chief Justice of the Canadian Supreme Court Beverley McLachlin wrote in a 2005 decision challenging the Canadian system’s ban on private insurance coverage, “Access to a waiting list is not access to health care.”

And when the government is in charge of a person’s care, it can decide the terms on which that care is delivered. In 2017, some local NHS affiliates began restricting elective surgery for people who smoked or were obese.

What’s more, the “free” health care Sanders claims to offer is anything but. The senator himself has suggested that his proposal will cost taxpayers between $30 trillion and $40 trillion over the next decade — money that would have to be raised in part through some combination of massive tax increases and enormous inflation-spurring deficits.

Single-payer health care is not free elsewhere. In Canada, the average family of four pays more than $15,000 a year in taxes just to support the country’s public health insurance system.

Sanders wants to force all American patients into a single, enormously expensive government-run health care program — the kind of program which has choked off access to timely, high-quality medical care every place it’s been tried and led to needless pain and death.

That’s some view of what constitutes a “human right.”

Sally C. Pipes is president, CEO and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy at the Pacific Research Institute. Her latest book is “False Premise, False Promise: The Disastrous Reality of Medicare for All” (Encounter 2020). Follow her on Twitter @sallypipes.

Filed Under: Opinion Tagged With: Fraser Institute, Medicare for All, single-payer healthcare, universal healthcare

Primary Sidebar

Connect with Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
Bootleg Bistro
Bootleg Bistro Ad
SLLC_Keystone_Blog-Ad_300x500_10%-Off-Repairs_05.19.21
CIOServices Ad 300x500-100
BRH Keystone Ad JPEG
Willow_Manor
Keystone Corporation Nevada

News Topics

  • Keystone Press Releases
  • Politics and Government
  • Legislation
  • Nevada News
  • Tourism & Gaming
  • Rural Nevada
  • Business
  • Opinion

Rural Nevada

Weather may have slowed January sales

April 8, 2023 By Courtney Holland

By The Record Courier Staff, April 4, 2023 For the third month in a row, Douglas County merchants reported a decrease in taxable sales, though not … [Read More...] about Weather may have slowed January sales

30 new projects in Pahrump: Arby’s, Chipotle, Midas Muffler, 3 convenient stores & more

March 29, 2023 By Courtney Holland

By Robin Hebrock, Pahrump Valley Times, March 28, 2023 Business is booming in the Pahrump Valley, with dozens of new companies looking to bring … [Read More...] about 30 new projects in Pahrump: Arby’s, Chipotle, Midas Muffler, 3 convenient stores & more

UPS and AVK America plan to expand in Douglas County

March 19, 2023 By Courtney Holland

Staff Reports for The Record Courier, March 17, 2023 United Parcel Service plans to build a new 168,000 square foot building in Douglas County, … [Read More...] about UPS and AVK America plan to expand in Douglas County

Redwood Materials gets $2 billion federal loan for mega battery facility near Reno

February 12, 2023 By Pauline Lee

by Jason Hidalgo, Reno Gazette-Journal, February 9, 2023 Redwood Materials just secured a commitment from the federal government for a $2 billion … [Read More...] about Redwood Materials gets $2 billion federal loan for mega battery facility near Reno

Opinion

OPINION: The Lost Art of Negotiation In Carson City

May 30, 2023 By Courtney Holland

NV Dems to Governor Lombardo: ‘Your priorities aren’t our priorities, but here are ours, sign them’ By Megan Barth, The Nevada Globe, May 26, … [Read More...] about OPINION: The Lost Art of Negotiation In Carson City

OPINION: Don’t force taxpayers to gamble with the IRS

May 30, 2023 By Courtney Holland

By Rich Robledo, Las Vegas Sun, May 21, 2023 Every year, millions of Americans visit Las Vegas to see the sights, take in a show, and even gamble … [Read More...] about OPINION: Don’t force taxpayers to gamble with the IRS

OPINION: Bipartisanship is critical in economic development

May 30, 2023 By Courtney Holland

By Tina Quigley, The Nevada Independent, May 28th, 2023 Several months ago, a friend sent me a copy of a 50-year-old local news … [Read More...] about OPINION: Bipartisanship is critical in economic development

Tags

Adam Laxalt am post Build Back Better Business Business Columns Casinos & Gaming Catherine Cortez Masto Clark County Clark County School District COVID Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) Editorials Education Elon Musk employment Gov. Joe Lombardo Gov. Steve Sisolak Housing inflation Inside Gaming Joe Lombardo las vegas Local Local Las Vegas Local Nevada mc-business mc-local mc-news mc-opinion mc-sports Nevada News NPRI Opinion Opinion Columns PAID Politics and Government Real Estate Insider Roe v. Wade school choice Sports Tesla The Strip tourism Victor Joecks

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Keystone Corporation - All Rights Reserved · Log in
Privacy Policy
By accessing this site, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use

The views, opinions and conclusions expressed by the authors of any article or post on the Keystone Korner are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Keystone Corporation or its officers and board members. Moreover, any reference to a person, party, product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Keystone Corporation or its officers and board members.