Obamacare is failing, and everyone knows it. The only question I ask myself these days is whether or not it was designed to crash in order for a single-payer system to rise from the ashes. Joseph Thorndike of Forbes explains his thoughts on the matter in the article “Social Welfare on the Cheap: Why Obamacare Was Built to Fail.” Although, I would argue there’s nothing cheap about Obamacare. A 2014 Bloomberg study found the cost for the website alone exceeded 2 billion dollars. In a day and age where a website can be created for $9.99, that’s… insane.
Now, I have been personally affected by Obamacare’s implementation and I am glad to see the thing die. When Obamacare hit the market, I saw my health insurance become a second mortgage — which I couldn’t afford. That forced me to find an alternative to traditional health insurance, and after some digging around, I found what was called a healthshare plan. For $416 a month, my family of four has an annual deductible of $1,500. After that deductible is met, everything except medications and mental health is free.
Other alternatives continue to arise in the free market as people and entrepreneurs attempt to right the wrongs of the healthcare industry. For example, there is a social media personality named ZDoggMD who used to run his own clinic in a sleek and modern way. But he, like others, was driven out of business because health insurance companies refused to reimburse him for his services. If he wanted to get reimbursed, he had to raise his prices, which he refused to do. So, the doors to his clinic were closed.
If healthcare could ever modernize and become a UPS or an Amazon, things would become much simpler, better and cheaper. But because it remains this lumbering dinosaur that is controlled by SJW-inspired politicians who shriek at Paul Ryan any time he attempts to tighten the purse strings on the “greatest generation,” healthcare will remain a cumbersome dolt who confusedly scratches his head whenever someone like ZDoggMD attempts to provide more… for less.
Yes, Obamacare is failing; but so it traditional health insurance. It’s a candle burning at two ends. Though we modernize, progress is slow because healthcare remains tied to social issues and senior citizens. Anyone use the Doctor on Demand app when it first came out? For $45 dollars, I could Facetime a doctor and get a prescription sent to my pharmacy for whatever was ailing me at the time. Now, a visit costs $75 dollars — why? Well, ask ZDoggMD. Ask the doctor in New York who doesn’t take insurance and charges a monthly fee. Dr Bryan Hill thinks he’ll be fine; but years ago, I remember reading about another doctor who did the exact same thing. Eventually, he–just like ZDoggMD and Doctor on Demand–was forced to raise his prices because of government bureaucracy and interference.
I’m not sure when a streamlined common sense approach to healthcare will enter the market the way it did the auto industry via Uber, Lyft and Tesla. Perhaps one day Google will purchase a healthcare company and finally start implementing some Silicon Valley-inspired solutions. Until that day comes, expect premiums to continue to rise up until at long last the beast dies; not with a bang, but with a whimper… and a new campaign promise.
* IR Watteau is an aspiring writer.
Latest posts by Being Libertarian (see all)
- Ron Paul Revolution Takes Over The Libertarian Party - May 30, 2022
- Secession: The Lost Aspect of Federalism - April 16, 2022
- Democracy & Freedom: A Contradiction in Terms - February 15, 2022
