New Paradigms in Health Care and Immigration

The debate in the areas of both health care reform and immigration policy in this country have become so stale as to make most people apathetic to the issues. The health care debate is basically both sides fighting over small points of contention, and doing it in a very partisan way. Even someone like myself who has a huge tolerance for politics is getting a little sick of it. And immigration hasn't been seriously debated in years. The same xenophobic rhetoric has dominated the debate, while the issue has run out of control. Yet, something needs to be done, because of the reasons I will outline below.

Health Insurance Reform

First, health care. Let me preface by saying that if you are going to read this, you need an open mind. People with an ingrained hatred for health care reform of any kind do not contribute in a constructive way at all. It is a widely acknowledged fact that something needs to be done, because the system in place now is working inefficiently and not helping people. Now, I've made it no secret that I think a public option, combined with strict regulation of the insurance industry, while still encouraging a private system of doctors and hospitals, is the best solution. I still am holding out hope that this is what will happen. But my point here isn't with these solutions. I would merely like to illustrate how I think health insurance would work most efficiently. Keep in mind this is all hypothetical. I will explain why it would never happem after I lay it out.

It's fairly self-evident that the health insurance industry is broken. Between exorbitantly high premiums and tens of millions who cannot get health insurance, the numbers prove that the big insurance companies are failing to make access to health care easier for people. I don't think they are intentionally trying to be bad guys, but they aren't doing what people need them to do, namely help them shoulder the cost of hospital bills. What is the point of paying insurance if the company is going to balk on paying the bills when you need them to? With all this said, let me present what I believe, in theory, makes more sense. I call it "reverse insurance premiums." What that means is that people with lower risk would pay higher premiums than people with high risk. Now, before you write me off as some crazy socialistic wealth-distributer, hear me out. Remember, this is all theory. It would never happen, simply because opponents could repeat that phrase to just kill it. But economically, I beleive it makes more sense. I'm not saying that healthy people should pay a lot more than less-healthy people. But if they paid just a little more, the system could be initiated. People who are sick cannot afford to pay the high premiums that insurance companies impose on them, often forcing them to go without. Then, when these ill people need to go to the hospital, everyone with insurance foots the bill, because the uninsured cannot pay for whatever care they receive. But, if the healthy paid a little more than the sick, that money could be used to insure people who fall ill. This would allow them to get into the doctor and get well. At that point, their premiums would go up, because now they are healthy. This would swell the ranks of the healthy payers, meaning each person would pay a little less each time someone gets well.

Now, when I've explained this to people, one of the main criticisms is "what is the incentive to stay healthy if you have to pay more?" Well, I argue that good health is an incentive in and of itself. Who wants to be sick, even if you pay less? That is why the difference paid between the two groups would not be great enough to make people wish they were sick. Of course, there would always be free-loaders, but there are free-loaders in the current system, too. The end result of this policy would be that more and more people could afford health insurance, even if they are in poverty or severely sick. I believe we would still need a public option for those who can't afford private insurance, and we would still need strict regulation of the market. But, in theory, I think this would work. Of course, it would never happen, because all that would be perceived would be healthy people being "penalized" by paying slightly higher rates. But, I think it is still an interesting conversation to have. Hopefully, a meaningful bill will get passed in Congress, and this debate will become a moot point.

Immigration

Now to my main point: immigration reform. We have all heard the xenophobic rhetoric about how we should kick out all foreigners and close the borders, because immigrants are corrupting our culture and taking all our jobs. Thankfully, a majority of people in this country understand the various benefits of allowing immigrants to come here. However, I am calling for something more than what we have now. I beleive that we need to open up immigration even more, and at the same time, pardon any illegals who would like to start the process to become citizens.

I can hear you all calling me a left-wing liberal wacko. Bear with me, and hear me out. I think these policies are absolutely crucial to the continued American dominance of the world economic system. America has always been a leader in employment and wages, despite the periodic recessions we have experienced. However, signs are already starting to show that, in the future, America could be looking at a severe labor shortage. The reason? The baby boomer generation. The baby boomers are the largest generation in America, and they are rapidly approaching retirement age. Five years from now, these people will begin retiring at a higher rate than replacement workers can be found. This will happen because the generations after the boomers are substantially smaller, due the changing dynamics of the family (specifically, having fewer children.) As the boomers retire, the demand for workers to replace them will rise. This will create a large shortage of labor by itself. However, this will only be part of the problem. The boomers are the wealthiest generation in history, due specifically to the equity they hold (usually property) and the growth of 401(k)s. So, as they retire, they will be cashing out, and increasing the pool of consumers, and consumer credit. This by itself would also create a huge demand for labor to feed that consumption. Combine that with the fact that all these people just retired, and that they will live longer due to advances in medicine and care, and we are looking a major labor crisis by 2025. That is just fifteen short years from now. The demand for labor will increase substantially to meet the demand for consumption, but the labor force will be smaller than ever.

Now, chances are that we aren't going to revert to a society where people are having 4 or 5 kids to make a family. So there isn't going to be a second "boomer" generation to come and fill these jobs (and even if there was, it would take too long for them to enter the workforce to contribute to a solution to this problem.) So, if we can't supply the population we need ourselves, what can we do? Immigration. People from around the world are banging down the doors to get into America. And they aren't just unskilled, illiterate people from third-world countries. People from around the world routinely come to America to go to college, and become doctors and architects and lawyers. We should encourage those people to stay after graduation. We should loosen immigration laws, and start letting people in now. We need people from all walks of life, and we need these people to become tax-paying citizens. We should also pardon illegal immigrants, and begin integrating them into society. The future labor shortage is going to have dire consequences for our economy. The shortage of workers will cause wages to rise to a point that inflation will be almost unbearable, making what little money the unemployed have worthless, exacerbating the problem. But, if we start compensating now, we head off this crisis. We need to allow more immigrants in now for another reason related to this. For the last thirty years, the world population has skyrocketed, more than doubling in that time. However, we are starting to see a drop-off in population growth around the world. This is to be expected; it is inconceivable, and impossible, for the population to continue grow at the rate it has. Due to the decreased growth, other countries will begin fighting to keep their people home, and to encourage immigrants to come to them. So, if we can start bringing people here now, we will be ahead of the curve, because it is almost certain that we will have to do so in fifteen years anyways. These immigrants will fill the labor gap that the reitired boomers leave, ensuring that we don't experience a major recession (or depression.) Living space isn't a problem: America's population is 31 people per square kilometer (34 is you exclude Alaska), compared to the world average of 49. (Germany, on the other hand, has a denisty of 230.) Finally, the increase of immigrants will diversify our population, and bring countless amounts of new talent and initiative to America.

I hope these ideas have you thinking. You have to put aside your preconceived notions, and your fears of new ideas and change, and think about these things logically. If we continue having the same debates we are having about these things, then in fifteen to twenty years, America will be in deep, deep trouble. It is in our best interests to shift the paradigm on not just health reform and immigration reform, but on all the stale issues out there, so that we can continue to be the preeminent power on earth.