I had an interesting talk about universal healthcare yesterday. I was on the bus with a friend of mine, and there was that awdward silence when neither person knows what to say . . . he's thinking about going pre-med, so I asked him a loaded question to see what would happen.

I was happily surprised by the response he gave. Most pre-med students who are against universal healthcare are unable to articulate their opinions in a way that does make them sound extremely selfish (or perhaps they just are selfish), but his reasoning differed a bit. What I've heard from a lot of people is the money factor: they're working really hard to get the education to go into the medical field, and they want the material benefit in the end. This is not to say they don't care about the human factor, just that it seems to take a backseat. Needless to say, this is a tad upsetting.

What my friend said was perhaps just phrased better, but it seemed more legitimate. He has worked for the government during the past two summers, through his local school district, and has seen first hand how the government works. He is not impressed. Apparently there is a  lack of efficiency that he just does not appreciate. For example, some days they would just drive around, for lack of anything else to do. And got paid from taxpayer funding. He is afraid that if the government were to take over the healthcare system, a similar lack of efficiency would begin to take place. There would be less incentive for physicians to do their absolute best, because there is no longer a pressing need to be super competitive. This would be of no benefit to the patients, who the healthcare system is about, after all.

There was a lot more to what he said (he talked for a good 20 minutes, at least), but my memory's not so good. I think I got the jist of it here.

I think Congress needs to remember that the reason they're elected is to help the people. This includes doctors, not only the patients. We need to give them a chance to do the best they can, as well as do what's right to the US population at large. I don't know how exactly that can be done, because I am in no way well-versed in the healthcare debate, but I know it's possible. At this point, I can only hope for the best.