An Early Dose of Obamacare
Rather than indulge in fantasies about the Obama administration using the swine flu national emergency to grab more power, it seems that our ongoing experience with the swine flu vaccine is a good example of where we are going to be if Obamacare gets enacted. Last weekend, my family and I stood in a long line, for a long time, in the rain and wind, to get the swine flu vaccine, something that is important to the two of us that have asthma and the one that is very young. The vaccine was “free”, and only the government could provide it as we could not get this vaccine from our pediatrician, adult doctor or asthma doctor even though we had contacted them about it a few months ago. It looks like there will be a significant shortage in the supplies of the vaccine, and it’s not even clear whether we can get the second dose that is recommended for children. The vaccine industry is heavily controlled, cannot make a real profit and therefore hasn’t really changed its method of growing flu vaccines in decades. This stands in stark contrast to the remarkable changes in knee surgery or cancer treatments, among many others, that have occurred during our lifetime.
When the Democrats get their way and the federal government ends up being primarily in charge of healthcare payment and access, we will have these exact same problems with getting treatment for all sorts of illnesses. Limited access and limited innovation mean that more people get sick and that fewer survive. But, at least it will be “free.” So “free” that we probably won’t be able to afford a military any more, but that is another issue.