Free Health Care in Iraq

In the past, Iraq has had more accessible health care programs than the United States. This is also true of many other Islamic nations. These nations recognize that one of the basic rights of all citizens is the access to good health services and that the government has the responsibility to guarantee these rights. Without good health, all of the other rights, liberties and freedoms become meaningless.
All Americans are facing a continually growing crisis in providing health care for their families. The last few decades have seen skyrocketing costs for absolutely everything related to medical costs and prescription drugs. A survey by Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust showed that during the first half of 2007, premiums for employee-sponsored health insurance rose nearly twice as fast as wages. According to I M S Health, worldwide sales of prescription medicines in 2006, rose 7 percent to $602 billion. The U.S. had $252 billion in sales, a 5.7 percent increase. Pharmaceutical companies are making record breaking profits with little regulation by the government. Free market competition is theoretically supposed to lower prices, but it fails to do this when the industries become virtual monopolies in specialized items. They can literally charge any price that they want to. Some prescription drugs cost $100 for one pill. This is not free enterprise, this is greedy exploitation.
Lobbyists in Wash. D.C. continue to persuade Congress to pass legislation that benefit’s the special interests, instead of benefiting the public. Congress has also financially aided American pharmaceutical companies by restricting imported drugs, even though these are usually much lower in price and would be more affordable to many low income families. Almost every presidential candidate that is campaigning today for the 2008 election, is promising to make needed reforms and increase health care coverage for the millions of Americans who presently have none. Unfortunately, whenever these well intentioned politicians succeed in getting elected, they immediately run into roadblocks and opposition by the corporations who are monopolizing and profiteering in the completely privatized health care industries. As long as lobbyists continue to influence or fund, directly or indirectly, political campaigns, don’t expect any real changes to come anytime soon. The reality in American politics is that those candidates with the most money, win the elections. And those politicians who receive the most contributions from the wealthiest corporations, are forced to pass legislation favorable to those same corporations. This corrupt political system does not benefit the public. It only benefit’s the politicians and the special interests.
The U.S. federal government is essentially a republican capitalistic system even though state governments are more democratic. (U.S. presidents are not elected by popular vote, they are elected by the Electoral College. In the 2000 election, Al Gore won the popular vote by 543,895 votes, but George W. Bush was elected by the Electoral College. State governors are elected by direct popular vote, which is more democratic). This capitalistic system prohibits the government from nationalizing either the economic interests or the health care interests. The American public is continuously told that this system is the best for the people. Actually it’s not the best system for the people, it’s the best system for the corporations. Any nationalized system, either in industry or health care would reduce the profits of the corporate owners but would increase savings by the public, in addition to making health care universally available.
When the industries of a nation remain separated from the government, the system is called capitalism or free enterprise. When a republican or democratic government controls the major industries, the system is called socialism.
What happens when the government goes into partnership with the corporations, and uses the powers of government to benefit the corporations instead of the people? This is neither democracy nor socialism. This is little different than a monarchy. This arrangement enriches only a small group of corporate owners. The results of such a partnership is that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and millions of children are left without health coverage.
Many of the Islamic nations in the Middle East, such as Iraq and Iran have established socialistic systems for their major industries and their health care programs for the people. This has been the major cause of antagonism between those nations and the capitalistic system of the U.S. The U.S. government is in partnership with the major corporations and they are totally committed to the privatization of all industries and health care programs. This makes it almost impossible for any national health care program to get enacted by Congress. The K Street lobbyists immediately set up roadblocks whenever any attempt is made.
One of the goals of the U.S. government, in partnership with the U.S. corporations is to replace socialism with capitalism throughout the world. This is the nation building crusade that the present administration has been totally preoccupied with since inauguration day in 2000. Especially in those nations that have vast national resources, like oil or cheap labor. Privatization and Globalization continue to play the major role in U.S. foreign policy. This is the primary reason that the U.S. and Britain conspired in 1953 to overthrow Mohammed Mossadegh and replace him with Shaw Reza Pahiazi. Mossadegh nationalized the oil industries and the Shaw essentially privatized them and gave major concessions to the U.S. and Britain. This is the same reason that the U.S. and Britain invaded Iraq in 2003. Both Mossadegh and Saddam Hussein had established national ownership of the oil industries and socialistic health care programs for their nations. The U.S. was unconcerned that these systems were actually benefiting the people. The U.S. government always seems to think that they know what is best for other nations.
Prior to the 2003 U.S. invasion, Iraq had national ownership of the oil industry (since the 1970‘s), a free education system for all Iraqis and over 10,000 medical centers which provided free medical care for all Iraqis. This socialistic economic system helped all of the Iraqi people even though it was controlled by a military dictatorship.
The Iraqi military dictatorship was partially necessary due to the centuries old antagonistic nature of the different religious sects and local tribal leaders. This was a consequence of the haphazard way in which the British created the state of Iraq out of different tribal areas immediately after WW I. The new national boundaries were arbitrarily drawn without any consideration of the different local cultures or religious divisions. The Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds were all very independently minded groups and they each wanted either to control the government or establish independence. Forcing them together into a new nation has resulted in problems ever since.
Compare this nationalized Iraqi system with the present U.S. system. In the U.S. all industries are privately owned. The people receive no benefits from any natural resources within the U.S. The American oil companies who exploit the natural resources of our own nation and of other nations, such as Iraq, do so solely for their own self interests and revenues. This is of no benefit either to the people of other nations (such as Iraq) or to the American people.
The U.S. has a good, free public education system available to all children through high school, but the higher educational college systems have become so expensive that only the very rich can afford to enroll their children. College tuition costs of $30,000 or more per student per year makes higher education impossible for many average families. This is robbing our nation of some of the most intellectually gifted and promising future leaders, not to mention future scientists. This incredible annual educational expense is creating a new system of discrimination for the young students. The rich children have the opportunity to be college graduates. But the poor children are denied this opportunity. Admission to colleges should be available to all, based on each student’s intellectual capabilities, not on their financial resources. Compare this discriminatory system to the free higher educational system that existed in Iraq before the U.S. invasion. Imagine how many more American students would attend colleges if they were tuition free, or at least more affordable. This could actually be a reality if only a small percent of the U.S. military budget was spent on education.
Before the 2003 occupation, Iraq had one of the best medical care systems in the Middle East. Well equipped hospitals and medical centers with well trained doctors and medical staffs, both men and women, provided all Iraqi citizens with free medical care and free prescriptions. This socialized system was funded by the government primarily through oil revenues. The nationalized ownership of the oil industries returned the revenues to the people in the form of medical benefits. This type of socialized government funding of medical and health care programs is vehemently opposed by the U.S. government. Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the U.S. has tried to eliminate all forms of social programs in that nation. Especially the nationalized oil industries and the socialized health care programs. Privatizing these two industries would create potentially enormous profits for U.S corporations who have great ambitions in the Middle East.
Compare the free medical health care that Iraqi citizens had before the U.S. invasion, to the astronomical costs that all Americans face today. It is not unusual for an American to pay $1000 for a simple annual physical exam, in which the doctor’s visit only last a few minutes and consists of a few simple tests and questions. Even with medical insurance, a simple annual medical check up can cost several hundred dollars, due to the annual deductibles. In fact, even those families that have medical insurance usually pay the insurance companies more in annual premiums than they receive back in savings. The insurance companies always make a profit on every policy. If they don’t, they find an excuse to cancel the policy. This raises the question of why these insurance companies even exist. Exactly the same function could be provided by a nonprofit government program. These companies cost the public billions of dollars annually, but they provide no product or service. It’s not a justifiable service if the premiums are more than the returned benefits, it‘s just a waste of money. The costs for any serious medical procedures are so high that any major injury or illness may bankrupt an average family. A medical emergency costing tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, usually results in families being forced to mortgage their homes or sell them. Any serious medical operation will be a financial burden for the rest of their lives and most likely prevent any of the children from ever attending college. This dire situation is faced by Americans that are employed and actually have medical insurance. Those families that are unemployed or can’t afford health insurance are forced to simply do without medical care. Thousands of uninsured Americans, including children, go without treatment and many simply die for lack of simple medical attention or medicine.
But the U.S. government continues to assure the American people that this system is the best of all possible. Does the government assume that all Americans are stupid? Doesn’t the government have any responsibility at all to provide adequate health care to it’s citizens? Isn’t this one of the rights that should be included in the U.S. Constitution? (If our nation’s founders were writing the Bill of Rights today, it most definitely would have been included). $200 billion a year is presently being spent by the U.S. on an unnecessary war in Iraq, which is attempting to take away from the Iraqi people a system that is superior to the American health care system. This makes no sense at all. If anything, the U.S. should be encouraging or copying such a nationalized system which provides free health care for everyone.
Fortunately for the future citizens of Iraq, the present democratically elected Iraqi leaders are resisting such changes by the Bush administration, even though this issue is not yet settled. The Iraqi Constitution which was adopted on Sept 25, 2006 states:
Article 30: ‘The state guarantee to the individual and the family--especially the children and women--social and health security…
The state guarantees the social and health security to Iraqis in case of old age, sickness, employment disability, homelessness, orphanage or unemployment, and shall work to protect them from ignorance, fear and poverty. The State shall provide the housing and special programs of care and rehabilitation.
Article 31: Every citizen has the right to health care. The State takes care of public health and provide the means of prevention and treatment by building different types of hospitals and medical institutions.
Article 32: The State cares for the handicapped and those with special needs and ensure their rehabilitation in order to reintegrate them into society. This shall be regulated by law.
The Iraqi government’s primary source of income is the oil revenues and the Iraqi Constitution establishes the nationalization of this industry. Without these revenues the government would be unable to finance the socialized health programs and provide free medical care for the Iraqi citizens. This nationalization is adopted in:
Article 109: Oil is defined as the property of all Iraqi people and is to be managed by the federal government in conjunction with regional provincial governments.
This is the article in the Iraqi Constitution which nationalizes the oil industry. This is the article that the Bush administration has been trying to have deleted from the Constitution. This is the contested subject of the primary ‘benchmark’ that the U.S. is demanding the Iraqis accept before the occupation forces will begin to withdraw from Iraq. This Article 109 is preventing the privatizing of the Iraqi oil industry and the ownership of the Iraqi oil reserves by American companies.
The U.S. wants to privatize both the Iraqi oil industries and the health care system of the nation. This privatization would only benefit the American corporations, it would not benefit the Iraqi government, the Iraqi people or the American people. This is a selfish demand by the U.S. government and their U.S. corporate partners and was the only reason that the Iraqi war was started in the first place.
The crisis in American health care is not going to get better, it’s only going to get worse. That is, unless some fundamental attitudes are changed concerning our nation’s priorities. Spending billions or even trillions of dollars on foolish wars and doing nothing to give health coverage to millions of American children and adults is morally wrong and unconscionable.