Posted by
CW on Monday, February 08, 2010 6:02:32 PM
In all of the discussion we’ve had so far about the Obama healthcare plan, I have yet to see anyone voice the number one problem with it, which is that it’s wrong.
It’s wrong to confiscate the earnings of one group of Americans who somehow have managed to find the means to secure health insurance for themselves and their families and force them to pay for those who have not. It doesn’t solve the underlying problem, namely that healthcare costs are rising faster than incomes. Instead, all the plan does is immorally shift the burden from one group to another. To start off right, we should all resolve that any plan to ‘reform’ healthcare begin with the central premise that all able-bodied Americans should be responsible for paying for their own way.
The next step is to understand what the root problems of the healthcare ‘crisis’ really are. Ironically, democrats have been completely uninterested in diagnosing these underlying causes, preferring instead to only treat the symptoms with thousands of thoughtlessly placed band-aids. They seem to not understand that the symptoms will only get worse, and new ones will emerge, if we do not take a good, hard look at what is really creating the ‘crisis.’
The inability to afford health insurance or healthcare is a combination of two factors: rising medical costs and insufficient income. Let’s look at rising costs first. As a former bank analyst, I can tell you that any analyst worth his salt should be able to study the healthcare system for the past 50 years and tell us exactly what has lead to the steep rise in costs. Is it a shortage of healthcare professionals? Is it lawsuit abuse resulting in expensive and unnecessary procedures? Is it a lack of choice in health insurance plans? All of these can be addressed in an effort to lower costs.
Presumably some of the rise in healthcare expenses is due to improved technology that has the potential not only to improve the quality of our lives, but has greatly extended it on average. So step three is to impress upon people that while paying for healthcare is not as sexy as driving an expensive new car, it is something that should be highly valued and worth sacrificing for, if necessary. If, like the grasshopper who danced all summer while the ants toiled away, people choose to foolishly spend their money on other luxuries, then they must still be made to pay their own medical fees when the need ultimately arises. Even if it means garnishing wages or confiscating assets, holding people accountable for their bad decisions is the only way to make the system work. This goes back to our central premise: it’s wrong to make one citizen pay for another. Letting people use the emergency room for routine care and leave without paying the bill amounts to just that.
Next we look at income. When I hear that people can’t afford healthcare, I always wonder: “Why not?” Since the disabled and truly indigent are covered under Medicaid and the elderly under Medicare, that shouldn’t leave too many people who can’t provide their own coverage. Young adults who are just starting out in their careers and don’t yet have spouses with whom they can pool their income could be offered inexpensive policies. As far as the others go, by not forcing other people to foot the bill for their healthcare we force them – naturally – to work smarter or harder in order to provide it for themselves. This is better for everyone and, most importantly, it’s the right thing to do.
Of course, all of this assumes that the real goal of liberal democrats is to make sure everyone can get care when they need it and not to make a huge power grab. That’s a debate for another day…