Why Point to Canada and England When There's TriCare?

I encourage you to read the story about CSM Hubbard before continuing on with this post.

There are so many things wrong with this story it's hard to know where to begin. The three most glaring ones I see are the protocol for trash disposal should be reformed, we aren't properly equipping our service men and women, and Hubbard's health care was a travesty.

There are multiple mistakes in how Hubbard's care progressed. The author expresses outrage that the DoD isn't forthcoming with their data, but not by the terrible care. The article is on the Huffington Post, which is a liberal organization. The real tragedy in this story is corners were cut in Hubbard's care. Actually, his doctors and nurses didn't just cut corners, they were plainly incompetent or too distracted to make good decisions. Where on earth did he get his care?

CSM Hubbard was treated under TriCare, which is the health care system for our service people. Who runs TriCare? The federal government. Who distributes TriCare's funding? The federal government. Who sets standards and practices and quality control? The federal government. While we're at it, who is in charge of Walter Reed? The federal government.

If you're wondering why the Huffington Post didn't sound as outraged about his care as they did about the data, keep in mind most liberals are pushing universal health care. If the author pointed out Hubbard's care occurred under government-run health care, it would only serve the argument that universal health care is a bad idea.

I have listened to stories from many friends who have TriCare. From what I can tell, it's acceptable for check-ups and shots. The problem is when there's a real issue. When something's really wrong or questionable, TriCare stinks. Hubbard's care isn't out of the ordinary for TriCare. Ask me about the friend who's pregnancy wasn't properly monitored and put her babies so far at risk they were delivered prematurely via emergency c-section and had to be rushed to the NICU. She had a simple problem to solve, normally found in the urine samples pregnant women routinely provide at their obstetric appointments. Ask me about the friend who was treated like chattel when she miscarried her baby. Ask me about the friend who spent months and months trying to get answers about the lump in her breast and was only seen "early" (months later) because her husband was being deployed. Ask me about my father who lost a tooth because the dentist couldn't stick around to fill the molar because his shift had ended. The stories go on and on and if you don't believe care can be that bad, I invite you to utilize Google.

If this is how the federal government runs health care for service people, someone please tell me: Why are many Americans positive that government-run health care for all Americans is the way to go?

From my perspective, we don't have to look to Canada or England to point out egregious errors and heartbreaking incompetence to prove the point that universal health care doesn't properly serve the health care needs of a country. We only need to look to TriCare. The Right's anxiousness about universal health care isn't just fiscal, but comes from a deep concern that everyone should receive proper care. The government isn't competent to provide it. Obviously.