Should the US Postal Service run our health care system?

The last few days I have been dealing with a slew of problems with USPS regarding getting my mail forwarded to my new address. Typically this is a fairly straight-forward service that mailing services supply, but with the run-around that USPS has been giving me you’d think I was applying for a mortgage. Ironically, USPS is one of the easier government offices to deal with. Imagine for a moment how much more difficult of a time I would be having if I was dealing with the Department of Motor Vehicles (which, by the way, is on the agenda for next week).The point is do we really want to hand over the keys to health care to the same people who administer these organizations?

Probably the best adjective we can apply to government run programs is “slow.” This isn’t as big of a deal with vehicle registration and mail service as delays in service typically aren’t life threatening, and in cases where they are you have options like United Postal Service and MVD Express to pick up the government’s slack. Health care is quite different, however, as it is frequently a matter of life or death. The new health care bill seeks not only to displace private insurance as the primary provider of health care insurance but to outlaw new enrollment in private health insurance. What will happen once the government bankrupts private insurance through unfair competition and we have no alternative care for emergencies? Will we end up like Britain or Canada with thousands of citizens waiting months for procedures that are readily available in our current system? I do not know, nor do I want to find out.