Health Care Reform or Government Reform? The Answer Is Obvious!

America is in deep trouble. We have an out-of-control Federal government that is broke, yet arrogantly proposes to take over, in the name of reform, the most successful health care system in the world, on the preposterous theory that more government will solve the problems government has created.

Every single major problem with our health care is attributable to governmental interference, but we are asked to believe the unbelievable, that government can make it all better with reforms of industry, more bureaucracy and public options.

Reform cannot be imposed on others. It is a change of heart, a self-correction. We don’t need health care reform or insurance reform imposed by government. We desperately need government reform. We have a glorious opportunity before us to achieve it, if we but put forth the ideas.

That is what we must do to preserve our freedoms. Let us turn the tables on Leviathan and strike a sword for liberty, under law, by taking the initiative, by demanding reforms of government that reduce its interference in health care and open the doors to competition and innovation.

It is government that has made health insurance expensive. Legislators in many states have insidiously enriched their own political fortunes by imposing mandates on insurance companies to cover every conceivable item regardless of needs or demands. A few Northeast States have also required community rating and guaranteed issuance of policies, raising costs by 500-700% in some instances.

Each of these mandates effectively enslaves one individual to pay for the health care of another, eliminating all incentives to live healthier lifestyles or control costs. Our legislators have pretended to be giving us something for nothing, while dramatically escalating costs of insurance and driving out competition.

A 5th grader can understand why this is a dumb idea. It is only our own failure to demand accountability from politicians that has allowed it to happen. The result, unsurprisingly, is that policies in some states cost 3-4 times what they cost in others.

Moreover, many insurance companies, including my own, have left places like New Jersey and New York, depriving their consumers of choices. But, the politicians don’t care. They just want the power to dispense favors to us at our cost.

We must end this. We can do it by applying the legitimate power of the Federal government to promote interstate commerce and allow every American to buy their insurance from whatever state or company they’d like.

If its reform the Federal government wants, then use it to reduce the costs of government. Allow Americans to buy health insurance from anywhere the same way they buy car insurance.

It’s not hard. End the death grip of government on the insurance market and let freedom ring. Empower consumers to lower their health care costs by their own free choices. It’s the American way. Just imagine what could be achieved if we reformed government. It’s time we demanded it!

And, while we’re at, it let’s demand tort reform, which has lowered costs and attracted doctors everywhere it has been tried. Let’s tell Congress to create incentives to increase the use of Medical Savings Accounts that encourage Americans to take more responsibility for their own health care and receive the rewards of doing so. The legislation currently proposed would attempt to destroy both them and Medicare Advantage when it should be doing exactly the opposite.

Let’s help people with pre-existing conditions by targeting our Federal help to reinsuring of insurance companies that take on these high-risk cases.

Let’s allow individuals to take their insurance with them from job to job and state to state so they don’t lose it. Let’s end the cost shifting by privatizing more of Medicaid and Medicare for future recipients.

Let’s allow insurance pooling for small businesses, the self-employed and others so all individuals can benefit from the economies of scale currently available through employer coverage.

Every American should be free to purchase the health coverage of their choice without tax penalty. We should offer refundable tax credits for insurance so every American can participate in the market, not just those covered by employers.

If we make it easier for Americans to buy individual health insurance of their choice without tax penalty we will, overnight, introduce personal responsibility into the health care system and lower the costs for everyone, while preserving quality of care and the innovation that only our system delivers, and on which the rest of the world depends.

This what we must demand of our government, to get out of the way and let the free market work under laws that ensure competition.

Unfortunately, the plans being proposed in Washington are headed in the other direction. They propose a public option akin to taking over Coke and letting it write the rules and set the prices for Pepsi.

Only a fool would think this will do anything other than reduce competition, increase mandates and drive everyone into government health care. Indeed, that is the stated goal of honest proponents of the legislation now before Congress. It is merely one step toward a single-payer health care system … except that it won’t quite be single-payer.

No, Congress would have its own system because it immorally exempts itself from this legislation. That is precisely why we know its bad for us and should be opposed with every fiber of our being. Instead, let us proceed under the banner of freedom. The solution to health care is less government. Let’s slay Leviathan.