Will the US even see universal health care as seen in Trek?

[ReadyAndWilling]

hey guys, I've always believed universal health care is a human right, especially in the USA as it's the wealthiest nation on earth. how can people justify denying someone a life saving procedure just because they don't have enough green paper?

i don't know, but Trek really opened my eyes to this serious issue.

 

[FalTorPan]

"As seen on Star Trek," in which there are seemingly no limits to resources, and everyone works simply in order to "better themselves," is a practical impossibility, so no.

 

[THE_FETT]

hey guys, I've always believed universal health care is a human right, especially in the USA as it's the wealthiest nation on earth. how can people justify denying someone a life saving procedure just because they don't have enough green paper?

The same way they're deined houses, food, utilities, etc. for not having enough green paper. Someone has to pay for it. I have a great idea, though:

Everyone that says that every human deserves health care should all form a group online, and then volunteer to be the ones who pay for it all. That sounds pretty good to me. Then you have all the people wanting to make a difference, actually working to make a difference. Unless it's all talk, that is...

 

[Nardpuncher]

hey guys, I've always believed universal health care is a human right, especially in the USA as it's the wealthiest nation on earth. how can people justify denying someone a life saving procedure just because they don't have enough green paper?

The same way they're deined houses, food, utilities, etc. for not having enough green paper. Someone has to pay for it. I have a great idea, though:

Everyone that says that every human deserves health care should all form a group online, and then volunteer to be the ones who pay for it all. That sounds pretty good to me. Then you have all the people wanting to make a difference, actually working to make a difference. Unless it's all talk, that is...

Well said.

 

[USS KG5]

Everyone that says that every human deserves health care should all form a group online, and then volunteer to be the ones who pay for it all. That sounds pretty good to me. Then you have all the people wanting to make a difference, actually working to make a difference. Unless it's all talk, that is...

This is not the forum for the best response to this.

However, we have universal free (at point of use) health care in the UK and it works very well, contrary to media reports. It is very expensive but our tax "burden" is still far lower than many European countries.

A lot of this comes down to political philosophy. In the USA it is perfectly acceptable to say that someone has less right to life if they are less wealthy. In the UK no mainstream politician would dare say anything like that.

I'd ask anyone who questions whether the well-off should help the poor and needy how did you get into Star Trek, a show that has always held up a more "enlightened" philosophy?

 

[kes7]

I'd ask anyone who questions whether the well-off should help the poor and needy how did you get into Star Trek, a show that has always held up a more "enlightened" philosophy?

I don't question whether the well-off should help the poor and needy. Of course they should. I do question whether the well-off should be FORCED to help the poor and needy (along with the inevitable freeloaders who realize the system enables them to live a live of laziness without negative consequences). It's a question of charity and responsibility vs. theft at gunpoint. (Besides, at least in America, it's typically not the well-off who pay for government programs. It's the middle and upper middle class.)

 

[Rush Limborg]

Well said, kes7!

And there's also the matter of bureaucracy. Experience has taught us that private charities--which do NOT have a "guaranteed" supply of income from the government, and therefore have a slight profit motive, and thus are driven by market forces--are FAR more efficient than those run by the government--and are therefore far more successful.

As for the UK health care...I should point out that the UK's population is a LOT less than that of the US. The country is smaller. Therefore, there is less bureaucracy, and therefore, any problems in the system are less apparent.

Now...as for whether UHC exists in Star Trek history...I refer you to the beginning of "Past Tense, Part I", when Sisko and Bashir wake up in 2024.

One of the cops goes off a list of forms of ID--and one of them is "your UHC card".

Interestingly enough, Bashir later points out that there are a LOT of ill men and women in the sanctuary districts who, curiously enough, are NOT getting ANY health care. Which, by the way, is EXACTLY what we critics of UHC are warning about--rationing, where those who are deemed "not useful" are therefore deemed "lower priority" on the waiting lists.

Food for thought.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Sorry, this thread doesn't have remotely enough Trek-related content. Open a thread in The Neutral Zone if you wish to talk about universal healthcare.