"If I want to make a health decision that isn't in my own best interests, why shouldn't I be at liberty to do so? Is it really the government's place to save me from my own poor decisions?"
You can't really say that having people see a doctor prevents them from making poor decisions. You know when you see a doctor and get antibiotics they do the plaintive "please take ALL of them, don't just stop when you feel better" because people do a half-course and then never finish. This is certainly a poor decision (assuming the need for antibiotics is valid in the first place). Similarly, there are people who see a doctor, find out they need a prescription, and never fill it, through laziness or budget constraints. And there are yet more, particularly in the US with no universal healthcare, who don't even have the opportunity to SEE a doctor due to budget constraints. And you certainly can't argue that THIS is in the best interests of the country.
When I worked at the vet diagnostic lab, I learned some interesting stuff about herd health. There's a somewhat different approach to medical care if you're dealing with a whole herd as opposed to individuals in isolation, because you want to avoid pandemics... you'd think the US would approach healthcare with a more herd-health attitude and try to treat everyone equally, for the good of the herd...
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You can't really say that having people see a doctor prevents them from making poor decisions. You know when you see a doctor and get antibiotics they do the plaintive "please take ALL of them, don't just stop when you feel better" because people do a half-course and then never finish. This is certainly a poor decision (assuming the need for antibiotics is valid in the first place). Similarly, there are people who see a doctor, find out they need a prescription, and never fill it, through laziness or budget constraints. And there are yet more, particularly in the US with no universal healthcare, who don't even have the opportunity to SEE a doctor due to budget constraints. And you certainly can't argue that THIS is in the best interests of the country.
When I worked at the vet diagnostic lab, I learned some interesting stuff about herd health. There's a somewhat different approach to medical care if you're dealing with a whole herd as opposed to individuals in isolation, because you want to avoid pandemics... you'd think the US would approach healthcare with a more herd-health attitude and try to treat everyone equally, for the good of the herd...