Another Presidential election and another debate on health care awaits us. If we would develop a long range program instead of applying band aids and worrying about getting elected maybe we could put this problem to bed. But politicians continually push for gimmicks instead of solutions. They also let their agenda

dictate their policy instead of coming up with workable solutions that could meet the health care needs of all without taking away the liberty Americans have sacrificed so many lives to preserve. There is no easy answer here contrary to those on the left who want to convince you that one size fits all, that government is the only solution, that government can do it better.

We always seem to get ourselves in a mess when we try to solve problems with patch work solutions. Not having a long term vision can sometimes lead us into paths spiraling into downward disaster instead of uplifting relief. Such is the case with American Health Care. And the patchwork mish mash we call a well thought out plan has been crafted by special interest groups thinking of themselves first and the rest of us last.

First we have the Doctors and related healthcare professionals who have banded together to see that the practice of medicine is limited to only those who have obtained a license. In order to foist this monopoly upon the public they have enlisted the arm of the government to grant them exclusive rights to practice their profession. Banding together in the American Medical Association, AMA, they have lobbied government to grant them special privileges and exclusive rights which they have authored themselves. The law has been written by the AMA and the law makers accept what this lobby group gives them as gospel. This monopoly allows doctors to charge exorbitant rates for their services.

Next we have the drug companies who also enlist the help of doctors, the insurance companies and the AMA to tell us what medicine is legal and what medicine is illegal. Working closely with the FDA, again the government, they help write the rules which the government coerces each citizen to accept, all for our own good of course. The drug companies work hard to influence medicine to accept only drug solutions for illness. Thus we have become a nation of pill poppers because pills are the only answer for treatment.

Next we have the Insurance Companies who decide what medicines and what procedures they will cover in their health plans. For help and guidelines they enlist the aid and opinions of the Doctors, the AMA, and the drug companies to help them decide what they will pay for and what they won’t pay for.

Lastly we have the political agenda people best represented by the left whose only solution is Universal Government Health Care. They propose this remedy not because experience has shown it works well elsewhere and not because they think it will a viable solution in the USA, but because it will give the government more power which in turn gives them more power when they assume governmental positions. Solutions are not important to these people, only the cause is. And the cause is Socialism. Whether it works or not is irrelevant. Agenda driven people can’t think outside the box. Most liberals are as fanatical about their political beliefs as Fundamental Christians are about their faith. The solution to any problem has to fit into the philosophy of the believer otherwise it is automatically rejected without consideration. For a good example of the agenda driven liberal see Michael Moore’s SICKO. A documentary it is not.

None of these groups, none of these people operate in the interest of the individual person. Who does operate in the best interest of the individual? Answer: the individual, not the Doctors and the AMA, not the drug companies, not the insurance companies, not the companies that we all work for, and not the government. Nobody has your best interest at heart but YOU!

If that is true then the best person to administer your health plan is YOU! Will you need some financial help? YES, most likely. But because you need financial assistance does that mean you have to give up decision making control over your body to some one else? If you are PRO CHOICE as regards abortion, why can’t you be PRO CHOICE for other aspects of your own body, including not only what treatment it will receive and by whom but also when it is time to pass on?

Every solution being offered today involves some one else’s control over your body and the worst of all these controllers is the government as expressed in Universal Government Health Care. That’s why some call government “Big Brother”. Big Brother will tell you what to do.

In the Canadian Socialized Health Care System if you go outside the system for treatment you are subject to a fine and/or jail sentence. You might if you were a Canadian be tempted to do so because the wait for many procedures can be years. The wait can be so long because government “free” medical care creates a demand that outstrips supply. The only way to hold down astronomical, ever escalating costs is by RATIONING. So a person who needs a heart valve replacement can die before they get treatment. This is precisely why many Canadians are streaming across the border to pay for American operations that take years in Canada to schedule (but all you read about is how Americans are rushing across the border for Canadian drugs). By coming across the border Canadians avoid the fine or jail sentence they risk being sentenced when they go on the black market and pay for medical services under the table.

By the way it is worth noting that in any product if you artificially lower the price (below what it really costs) then you increase demand. To actually supply the increased demand would be very costly. When it is tried demand goes even higher and unless the government starts to say NO, it will go bankrupt. Thus Universal Government Health Care which covers everything, every little expense, encourages citizens to use the system more and more, as often as they can. The only way for the government to hold down costs and avoid tremendous red ink, is by RATIONING. In essence the government says, “We can’t give you all the medical care you want.”

Star Parker in a recent newspaper column wrote about the response of an American friend who had been living in Great Britain for some time about how good the National Health Service was there. Her friend wrote:

“If you end up with an exotic disease that requires a lot of care, you’re screwed. For example, the waiting list for any kind of major surgery is long, and for things like knee replacements, you can wait for three years. Alzheimer’s drugs aren’t available on the National Health Service because they’re too expensive. More and more people are paying for private health insurance coverage, and more and more companies are making it part of the perks package. So, Britain will end up with a two-tier system before too long where the ‘rich’ get good private coverage and the poor or uninsured have no alternative to the NHS.”

Canada obviously saw this “loophole” and plugged it by making it illegal to go outside the government health system.

Those of you who have watched the Staples Commercials on TV know all about the EASY BUTTON. Well in health care there is no EASY BUTTON. Government cannot artificially hold down the costs of health care and neither can Insurance Companies. There is a misconception among many in the general public that government can make things less costly simply by ordering it to be so. That’s not reality. Government can artificially hold down prices, but once again when it does that it increases demand while at the same time reducing supply.

Thomas Sowell in his book Applied Economics said this:

“Four things have almost invariably followed the imposition of controls to keep prices below the level they would reach under supply and demand in a free market: (1) increased use of the product or service whose price is controlled, (2) reduced supply of the same product or service, (3) quality deterioration, and (4) black markets. All of these things have been found when the prices of medical care have been controlled – and all are particularly harmful in matters involving pain, disability, and death.”

So let’s take a look at a health care vision that provides for the liberty of free choice, controls costs and supplies timely service.

YOU ARE IN CHARGE

You the individual call all the shots. You are in charge. If a doctor’s charges are exorbitant or a hospital procedure’s cost is way out of line, you take your business elsewhere to the lowest qualified bidder. If a hospital charges you $50 for an aspirin you raise hell. If you want to try alternative medicine you do so, whether it be acupuncture or native herbs or prayer or a combination of many different methods. If you want to use shark cartilage for cancer treatment, you use it. It’s your body. And you receive tax breaks for whatever you choose.

When you put all these decisions into the hands of third parties they inflate the cost. Doctors love insurance companies. They can bill them for services not rendered. They can bill them for tests not needed. They can bill them for higher costs then they would charge a cash paying customer. Everything said about insurance companies can be said double for government. Medical fraud and waste in Medicare and other government programs is rampant and a disgrace.

CATASTROPHIC ILLNES INSURANCE ONLY

The only kind of health insurance the government will give tax breaks for is catastrophic illness insurance with a two thousand dollar deductible. This insurance will broaden to include any procedures, treatments or surgeries that go over a certain dollar amount (to be decided). Of course the premiums (which will be low) will now be tax deductible off your gross income, reducing it by the cost of the premiums. If you want any other kind of health insurance you may purchase it at your cost or it may be supplied by your place of employment but not one penny of it is tax deductible anywhere on your federal income tax form. The government will require that every citizen have a catastrophic illness insurance policy. If you can’t afford one treatment will be provided.

Part of what skyrockets the cost of medical care in Universal National Health Care is the across the board free provision of everything, minor everyday medical expenses that should be in the budget of most Americans. If you have a cold you go to the doctor for free and you get medication for free. If you have a hangnail you make sure you take advantage of the “free” care. The only problem is it is not free. It still costs someone. In the case of Universal National Health Care it costs the government which is you and if you cannot pay for all that you demand the government will ration service and medicine.

HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNTS

You will be encouraged to use HSAs which are tax deductible off your gross income reducing your taxable income by the amount you salt away. There will be no requirement that these health savings be used up in a year. They will be cumulative year after year. From HSAs you can pay for Doctor’s visits, prescriptions, alternative medicine and preventive medicine. You can also pay for dental care and eye care, anything to do with the well being of your body.

IF YOU CAN’T PAY

If your family income is below the median average the government will provide one hundred dollars for every thousand dollars below the average for health care premiums, and one hundred dollars for every thousand dollars below average for HSAs. These benefits will be based on your income tax filings.

Anybody who falls through the cracks and cannot afford anything will be entitled to free treatment at a VA Hospital clinic (to be established). There will be no more public hospitals with emergency rooms being used for a non existent family doctor or for those with no insurance. This coverage will be limited to those with below median average family incomes. If you cannot produce a valid Social Security card, however, you will have to have a federal ID card. If there is no VA Hospital within reasonable distance the government will issue a voucher for treatment to be redeemed at any clinic nearby.

The government will guarantee any catastrophic insurance coverage if your illness exceeds the dollar amount of coverage decided upon.

PRIVATE HEALTH CLINICS

The government will not prohibit the establishment of private clinics staffed by doctors or nurses in places such as Wal-Mart to treat common non life threatening illness. Nor will the government grant only licensed doctors a monopoly on dispensing medical care.

Any Health Care Clinics involved with the treatment of only individuals below the average median income will be exempt from all corporate and or business taxes. Nor will any local government be allowed to, by zoning restrictions, refuse the establishment of a health Care Clinic in business zoned sections of a community.

MAL PRACTICE INSURANCE

Mal practice Insurance will be capped at a decided upon figure over and above the cost of treatment and medicine. No longer will juries of judges be able to award astronomical amounts for purely punitive reasons.

I realize that Liberals will see a lot in this vision that they cannot stomach and that conservatives will see an equal amount of unacceptable provisions. It is time that we came up with a plan that puts YOU back in charge of your medical treatment, of your body. To do so you may need some help, but you do not need a blanket across the board free coverage for everything. And you do not need others setting the rules and making the decisions for you. When a doctor or a hospital or a clinic orders unnecessary tests, treatment, visits – YOU will object and YOU will therefore be the best cost reducer of your medical program. But to operate in charge of YOU it may be that some financial assistance be given to you. If so it will be provided but you must qualify for assistance and be willing to receive clinic treatment and to accept limits to that “free” coverage.

It is time we let government be a helper, an enabler not a provider. It is time we had a vision for everybody and not just dump the uninsured and the underinsured on the backs of overworked and understaffed hospital emergency rooms. No system is perfect and nothing will always work well. But we can do a lot better than we have been doing.