OK, I guess it's time for me to weigh in on this so-called "Health Care Bill.” From my perspective it is a huge mistake! Why?
Just think about who actually benefits or probably would benefit when the final legislation passes (that is if the House and Senate can agree on a final bill).
The insurance companies are the big winners in this scenario. Why? Well….just think about it. The government is going to force millions of people to become customers of the insurance companies, THAT’S WHY!
If any of you reading this are in business, imagine how it would benefit you if the government made it mandatory that people buy your product or service. But wait…this really only applies to BIG BUSINESS, not the little guy!
Private health insurance is still preferable to anything run by government for obvious reasons. The government wants to enshrine health coverage as a right, which it is not. Real rights are based on freedom from government restriction, not entitlements that foster more dependence on government.
It is also likely that the final bill will have some sort of “prescription drug coverage,” in it. So you, me, and everyone else will be taxed so that the pharmaceutical industry can peddle their toxic “medications” compliments of the American taxpayer.
This is NOT reform in any meaningful sense of the word. It is a gift to the insurance industry, and likely the pharmaceutical industry as well.
So you might ask, what WOULD constitutive reform? Well, there are a few things, which would be a step in the right direction such as:
- The ability to purchase individual health insurance across state lines
- Allowing insurance companies to really customize plans to meet people’s needs
- Protecting our access to nutritional supplements
- Truth in labeling regarding foods that have GMO, or are irradiated
- Truly reforming the FDA and making it protect the consumer rather than the drug industry
- Expand health savings accounts and give people and insurance companies more freedom in creating market based solutions to health care funding
- A news media that actually reports the truth and gives the public factual information, instead of the corporate propaganda machine that we now have
These are by no means the only things that would help. I know there are other approaches, which I have not even thought of, but these would be a good start.
Our health care system is bankrupting our country, NOT because the free market has failed, but because the free market has not had a chance to work.
We do not have a free market health care system. What we have is a hybrid system with some free market aspects, and many government restrictions which in some cases serves the interests of corporate monopolies rather than the consumer.
Unless and until this changes, no health care system in which the US government is involved will actually work the way it should.
Another problem is that the public has been led to believe that free market solutions to health care will not work because the profit motive is somehow inherently unethical and uncompassionate. They have been told that ANY health care bill no matter how bad is better than not doing anything at all.
Well… that is a false choice. The proposed bill IS worse than nothing at all, because it sends us in the wrong direction. It is typical of politicians to think they can “mandate” health, and that by passing legislation they can improve the health of the nation.
They have sold people on the idea that “government” will make them healthy, and that health is a measure of how good their “health care plan” is.
This is FALSE. The true path to health for the vast majority of people is better diet, more exercise, and overall healthier lifestyles. However the problem with the idea that government can make this happen, is that government offers all the wrong incentives toward these ends.
Government does not and cannot truly empower people, because by it’s very nature, it seeks to make people more dependant on it. Only when this changes (which is why we need smaller government) will things truly change for the better.
The truth is that the free market can and will come up with innovative and effective solutions given the right incentives and less governmental interference.
What to do?
Let your representatives in Congress know how you feel about this issue. Let them know in no uncertain terms that you DO NOT want government mandated health insurance, more prescription drugs, less choice, and restrictions on your right to make health choices for yourselves and your children.
They DO respond to public pressure and opinion, and your voice as part of the collective voices of all citizens in America WILL turn the tide and force them to rethink this issue.
