National Health Care's Test Bed: Puerto Rico

Vic sent in his observations from a recent visit to "The Beautiful Island".

I recently returned from a long anticipated sojourn to the land of my ancestors: Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is a beautiful tropical getaway for travelers in the know and was a melting pot for Spanish, French, Irish Geese and so many more during the Colonial Period when Spain ruled the seas and wars were fought over honor and commodities such as gold and cotton. From 1508 until the Spanish ceded Puerto Rico to the United Sates in 1898, gold was mined and depleted, the island was depopulated of Taino indians, repopulated with Europeans, and natural disasters shaped the culture and ethos of its inhabitants.

My visit re-acquainted me with long lost relatives and introduced me to a raft of previously unknown loved ones. One such newcomer (to me anyway) has been employed by the Commonwealth for decades and ran for office against the corruption as he saw it and is solidly for statehood; a perennial issue that comes to a head with a vote periodically. Puerto Rico is a true colony of the United States: it owes its economic survival to the sustenance provided by the Federal Government and would sink into Third World poverty if not for the billions of dollars pumped into the economy. It really is a welfare state and the Puerto Ricans are well aware of their status as a 'stepchild territory'. It is an outpost for the United Sates that hems in Cuba and its strategic importance can not be understated. That having been said, the Island economy is depressed and has been for many years.

The number one industry in Puerto Rico is administering the distribution of the money provided by the United States in the form of so many programs and a welfare system rivaling any Cold War satellite of the USSR. There was an amazing burst of economic activity until the early nineties, when the Clinton Administration eliminated an enhanced tax status for corporations operating on the Island. Then the companies pulled up stakes for Asia and the economy collapsed. A drive through the southern shore treats you to an ugly display of abandoned and rusting oil refineries among the tropical lushness. A stunning sea bordered by a coastline of deteriorating factories: disgusting in all of its irony.

This long-winded description of island life is meant to inform you of the mindset of the Puerto Rican people. One of resignation to economic slumber and permanent dependency on the United States. Are they proud to be Americans? You betcha! But many long for statehood and the responsibilities that go along with it. But they are also proud perversely, as I see it, of their health care system.

The Puerto Ricans see government-run health care as a right and not a privilege of gainful employment. Understand that redistribution of money is the prime industry there so it follows that a sense of entitlement is ingrained. Only a minority, however large it may be, want the sometimes crushing responsibilities of statehood and the status the goes with it. Case in point: California is effectively bankrupt because of its social programs and unceasing support for illegal aliens who neither pay taxes nor re-invest in local communities.

The Islanders are intensely proud that the Obama Administration had studied their model and has decided to take it nationwide. They see the benefits of a centrally run program but have cautions for the White House regarding implementation. Firstly, it is expensive, depleting funds that would otherwise be used to spur economic activity. The Puerto Ricans are sensitive to the financial costs in the long run but trust the Government will make up the lost growth later.

The second caution is more of a warning to our aging population: Rationing. Certain procedures and modalities are simply not available for a small 'nation' who never had the budget for the more exotic equipment and treatments anyway. If you get a fatal illness that will consume lots of resources and buy a few months; you go home to settle your affairs. On an island that has commercial vehicles belching smoke and abandoned buildings on every street can it surprise anyone that top level health care simply does not exist?

In a commonwealth that appears to a visitor to be stuck in the 1970s there is no expectation of emerging from near poverty and the achievement of the wild prosperity that the mainland boasts. There is the feeling of just getting along and the hope for more funding from 'Mother Congress'.

And as the United States emerges from its recession more money will come: As a territory it is their right. Don't get me wrong, Puerto Ricans are very proud to be Americans. They are simply the victims of 'Mother Congress' socializing and completely controlling their economy. There is no other option for them as the Government has taxed most industry right off the island and has a stranglehold on its income.

When a government can dictate how much money you earn and where you may work it has infinite control over the decisions you make. And that is not the America I want for my children. Don't let 'Mother Congress' and headmistress Pelosi nationalize health care. It will be the undoing of the best medical system in the world and have the unanticipated result of suppressing our economy. It will unquestionably lead to a lower standard of living. I fear for the Democracy if this dog of a bill passes.