Thursday, June 25, 2009
An employee benefit -- for employees only
From the RoundTable blog
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John M. Givens
Givens is a graphic designer in Salem.
While I'm delighted that Christopher Walter recovered from his recent illness ("Socialized insurance saved my life," June 21 commentary), his generous health insurance did not save his life. His good judgment and the doctors and hospitals saved his life. As they would have had he had no health insurance.
The good news, of course, is that, since he had a very generous health insurance policy, he's not been financially devastated. Good for him.
But his point (seemingly) that we all should be entitled to such a health plan from the government (what he calls socialized insurance) and his premise behind it are, regrettably, wrong and unreasonable. As is his question that, since the government provides our national defense (what he call "socialized defense"), why should we not expect it to provide "socialized medical coverage?"
First of all, Walter's medical insurance was provided by his employer, which happened to be the U.S. government. He had the insurance, not because he was a taxpayer, but because he was a (retired) employee. His health insurance was part of the deal between him and his employer.
He worked his career for the government, and it provided health care insurance for him. He had a good insurance plan because he was smart in choosing a career and, primarily, because he earned it -- not because he was entitled to it in any other way.
The same is true for me, as my insurance is provided by my employer (not the U.S. government) by virtue of my having worked for them. That does not mean everyone should be entitled to the same health insurance I have from my employer. That logic is as ridiculous and naïve as is Walter's.
We should expect the government to perform only those functions that we should not be expected to perform, or are incapable of performing in a reasonable way, for ourselves. And health care and health care insurance are fundamental responsibilities of each and every person, by himself.
The growing trend to expect more from the government aside, there is no moral, civil or financial reason to depend on the government for health care or health care insurance.
Just because the government provided its military and civilian employees with a good health insurance plan (part of the cost of employing people), does not mean the government is obligated to provide the same insurance to everyone -- employees or not.
In fact, it cannot and should not be expected to do so. We deceive ourselves in expecting that.
