Mugged By Reality: A Conservative Case for Universal Health Care

Medicare for All is a bad idea. But the Center-Right Still Needs to solve health care.

Twenty years ago, I learned of the importance of health insurance and the role of the government in health insurance the hard way.

In November 1996, I caught the flu. At the time, I was 27 and working at a major coffee chain making $6/hour. Health care was available, but when you make only $6/hour and have to pay for various things like food and rent, health care becomes out of reach.

So, I spent a few days in bed until I felt good enough to go back to work. I felt okay for a few days, but then the illness came back with a vengeance. I couldn’t keep anything down. I started having trouble breathing. I should have gone to the clinic I frequented which offered care to the low income on a sliding fee scale. But I went to the county hospital in downtown Minneapolis. A young doctor examined me and said it was pneumonia. He gave me a five day supply of antibiotics (the usual course is ten days for something as routine as a sinus infection). I didn’t get better. Instead, I grew worse. I had a high fever and I was getting a case of thrush on my tongue turning it white. In the meantime, my parents rushed from Michigan to take care of me. I was able to…