Two casualties of American healthcare

One is of national prominence; the other is personal. This week an old friend died. Well, he wasn’t that old…mid-50s. He couldn’t afford health insurance so he didn’t have regular check-ups, and when he had chest pains, he didn’t see a doctor and was hit with a fatal heart attack. There’s nothing newsworthy here. It happens all the time.

The second story is big news: the UAW striking GM. Neither side can afford it. One of the big issues is healthcare. Medical insurance adds $1,500 to each car. At this point, even many in big business are behind a national health plan. The added cost to business contributes to making American products too expensive to compete in the marketplace.

The last several years, American cities that have courted international car manufacturers opening assembly plants in North America have been losing out to Canada. One of the two most important reasons cited is that Canada has national health insurance, which means that the car company doesn’t have to think about that expense.

If you’re reading this and feel you don’t need to worry about health insurance, you’re probably either getting yours from the VA or Medicare, both single-payer, government-run, “socialized” medicine.

Anna Monday