Native American Health: Socialized Medicine Gone Bad
This article appeared recently (May 28) in the Albuquerque Journal. The author's basic point is that Native Americans were promised health care paid for by the federal government and that the government has fallen short of its obligations. Of course, more money is essential (in the author's mind) to rectify this injustice.
This promise of a "right" to health care is strikingly similar to politicians' promise to "universal" health care and other plans to dramatically alter America's health care system. While more money may indeed be necessary to "fully" fund the Indian Health Care system, history has shown that government-run health services are very expensive and thus, by their nature, are ultimately "underfunded."
While the Indians undoubtedly had little choice in the wording of the "treaties" they signed with the US Government, their costly and ultimately sad experience with "free" health care should give so-called progressives pause when promoting the idea as a panacea for current problems.
Comments
Yes, the federal government has failed on numerous promises towards Native Americans, and it should be looked at when talking about a "universal" healthcare plan since the Indian Health Services budget is constantly going over. The primary problem with this idea is not the short-term or essential medical care that is offered, but the long-term costs of providing health care as the population ages and it becomes more of an up-keep situation. That is just too expensive for the government.
Posted by: Native American researcher | June 5, 2008 06:35 AM