One of the scariest implications of Barack Obama being elected president of the United States is the irreversible damage he will do to the nation’s health care system. The health care provisions that were slipped into the stimulus bill all but assure we are on the path to universal health care.

To those who haven’t given it much thought or consideration, universal health care may initially sound like a great thing. Every American agrees that the price of health care is too high and something needs to be done about it. In addition to that, Democrats will remind you that there are approximately 45 million ‘Americans’ out there without health care. Obama and Democrats think the solution to both of these problems is universal health care –‘- much like the health care provided in Europe and Canada.

In reality though, these aren’t solutions. They are only going to compound the health care system’s problems. Before I even mention that 10 million of the 45 million ‘Americans’ Obama wants to cover with the universal health care plan are illegal immigrants, it is important to know the implications of introducing this many new people into the health care system.

By introducing 45 million new people into the universal health care system, the demand for health care in this country would skyrocket. Hospitals, emergency rooms, clinics and doctors’ offices will all be flooded with people seeking medical care under the new system. But at the same time of the rapid demand increase, the supply of doctors, nurses, hospitals, clinics and other medical facilities would remain the same. They aren’t just going to appear out of thin air.

So what happens when demand drastically increases and supply remains the same? It doesn’t take an economics major to tell you that it leads to drastic price increases ‘- the exact opposite of what Obama is allegedly setting out to do by changing the system.

So, if prices are obviously going to skyrocket, what does Obama plan to do in order to keep prices down? If you read his plan, he suggests a few things, none of which can be implemented immediately and none of which are really going to make a big difference. For example, Obama states in his plan that he wants to increase competition among drug companies. He doesn’t propose how to do that, but he likes the idea of it. Either way, it’s not something he can cause or that would happen overnight.

So what is really going to happen to keep costs down? Rationing health care.

What does rationing health care mean? Basically, it means that someone else is going to be in charge of the drugs and medical procedures you are allowed to use and take, regardless of whether or not you are prepared to pay for it yourself.

Federal bureaucrats or private companies empowered by federal legislation are going to determine what is cost effective and what isn’t.

If you want to use a proven effective medication like Tarceva to fight lung cancer, a bureaucrat is likely to tell you no. Not because it is not likely to work, but because it is not considered to be cost effective. Scary.

Things like this go on all the time in countries like Canada that allegedly have ‘better’ health care than the United States. And this isn’t me trying to scare you into thinking a loved one may not be able to receive adequate treatment for something threatening their health. This is the truth.

Rationing health care is the only way to control costs under this kind of system.

Why in the world are we doing this? Why would we give up access to some of the best health care and doctors in the world? If not to get prices under control, it must be to get the 45 million ‘Americans’ who are uninsured, insured.

But who are these 45 million? Illegal immigrants count for 10 million of them. A whopping 15 million more of them are people who are eligible for Medicaid but just haven’t bothered to sign up yet because they are not sick and don’t need care.

As a country, we already spend 16 percent of our national wealth on health care. No nation in the world comes close to matching it. The U.S. spends $5,711 per capita on health care and France, the nearest other large country, only spends $3,048. Now we’re going to spend even more?

Throwing money at the problem is not the solution; we need to spend it more effectively. But I wouldn’t count on logic and reason seizing the day in Washington. I’ve got 1.5 trillion reasons that concept is out the window.

The worst part about all of this is that change in the health care system is irreversible.

Can you imagine a presidential candidate running on taking health care away from 45 million people
? How on earth is that person getting elected when he or she is alienating 45 million people right off the bat? Not going to happen.

I would say be careful what you wish for, but it’s far too late for that. Democrats have their wish in the form of controlling government, and we’re all going to have to live with the consequences.

Alex Perry is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].