President-elect Barack Obama has proposed a more socialized health care plan that is very similar to those in countries such as the UK and the Netherlands.  This healthcare plan would call for a universalized system and if you can afford healthcare or if your employer chooses to offer a separate healthcare plan you could opt into that option as well and pay a little bit more for the service.

The downside to a healthcare plan such as this one is that as providers of healthcare plans will be forced to exit the industry, especially smaller healthcare companies that will lose their business.  As healthcare costs rise insurance companies are forced to charge more for their healthcare policies.  In turn it is the price of medical procedures that is on the rise, not the price of healthcare.  On average the price of most medical procedures has jumped 2000% since 1947.  For those of you with a calculator this is way above the price of most goods and overall inflation.

So why has the medical industry been rising at such a rapid pace.  To be blunt, the cost of medical procedures has to do with the new equipment costs and extensive medical procedures that is occurring.  It is hard to put a price on someone’s life.  We want to blame the people that we pay, not the people that are responsible.

Healthcare is a major issue in America today.  Finding affordable healthcare that will give everyone the same benefits is really important but how do you make it fair for everyone in the economy?  It is a tough situation and repairing our healthcare system will be a long and arduous process.