If I Made the Rules - Part I Healthcare

Part I - Healthcare

Since it's the hottest topic out there right now, I might as well make it the first chapter.

It's perhaps the most complex topic, made mostly so because of government meddling.

Heathcare is something everybody needs.  So naturally, power-grabbing government types have a default setting that they believe requires them to control all aspects of citzens' medical care.

The Left wants a Nationalized system, run by the federal government.  They have made that goal their top priority for the last 50 to 60 years.  Thus far they've succeeded in incrementalism, managing to impose Medicare, Medicaid, then Prescription Drug coverage under Medicare and the SCHIP program to cover children.

Obamacare is the next step in the process, but skipped ahead to fully socialized medicine against the wishes of the majority of the American people.  Democrats think they mollified the free enterprise capitalist types by the fig leaf of allowing private insurance companies to participate in their government controlled "exchanges", but that's far from a free market.  A free market is one where any company can participate and offer plans for medical coverage that they believe fit people's needs, and the companies make profits based on how accurate their predictions were about the most popular insurance plans that will attract the largest customer base.

Unfortunately, the Democrats who crafted this law think they're smarter than everybody else.  So they passed a one-size-fits-all law that allows their bureaucrats to decide what's covered (and what is not), how much the premiums should be, and what companies will be permitted to participate in the exchange.  That's a law obviously designed to fail, and at least we can grant that those Democrats were at least smart enough to know that much.

It will fail, in fact in many ways it already has failed.  The number of insurers who signed up and were approved by the government to participate in the exchanges are having second thoughts about the wisdom of that decision.  They're now realizing that they won't make any money, and in cases like in California, they've found out they will be asked to lose money on the program.  Soon it appears California's exchange will have only one insurance company participating, and that company may drop out as well.

So Democrats, who have no imagination of course, will simply say, "We tried our best, but those greedy insurance companies refuse to cooperate with us.  There's no choice left, but to move to a single-payer solution.  Medicare for everyone!".

What if we threw it all out the window and started over with new ideas?  Based on individual freedom rather than Big Brother socialism?

Let's start with what I need.  Rather than being forced to buy an insurance policy loaded down with coverages I'll never use and mandated coverages that use my money to pay for baby-killing drugs that violate my rights of conscience and faith, how about letting me choose one that fits my needs?

If I were allowed to build my own insurance policy, it would generally look like this:

1. No coverage at all for routine doctor visits, medications, common illnesses and injuries that don't require hospitalization.  Let me keep a tax-free savings account where I can put aside the money to cover those expenses.
2. Major Medical coverage for the serious illness or injury.  If I need in-patient surgery or cancer treatment, I'm covered.  The subject of lifetime limits is a sticky one, so I'll refrain from discussing that one and consider it cause for celebration if we ever reach the point where that becomes the major problem remaining to be resolved in heathcare.

OK, bleeding-heart liberals, I know what you're going to say.  "What about people who can't afford that kind of insurance and need help paying for the routine medical expenses?"

I recognize that folks who don't earn much are going to struggle to pay for anything in life.  They have a hard time making rent, they rely on Food Stamps for their meals, and have no room in their budgets for a $100 visit to the doctor's office to get treated for a sinus infection.

A few thoughts on that subject:

First, believe it or not, I was one of those low wage people when I was young and just starting my adult life.  I had a dentist bill when I was about 24 that ran into the hundreds of dollars, money I simply did not have.  The dentist allowed me to set up a payment program, and I sent him something like 60 dollars a month until my debt was settled.  My siblings also told me about big medical bills they paid off over time.  As long as we were consistent and on-time with our payments, we had no problem.

Second, I recognize we can't just drop this approach on everybody all at once.  We'll probably have to gradually transition the program.  We certainly can keep Medicaid intact to cover the medical bills for the poor.  The only difference is that I would insist that we never stop working to help people find ways off the Medicaid dole and into self-sufficiency.

My dream is that one day Americans will be self-sufficient and the only role for the federal government is the one originally defined for it by the Constitution.  All the feds do for us is maintain the military to protect us from foreign invaders, build and maintain our interstate highway system, and act as a referree in commercial financial disputes and criminal cases that cross state lines.

One day there will be so many self-sufficient Americans able to handle their own medical bills and Major Medical premiums that the very small number of poor can easily be accomodated by our Churches and other charitable organizations.

I'm for repealing Obamacare fully and permanently.  Then we can begin having the discussion about what sort of healthcare system is best for the country.  I only hope my ideas would be embraced by the political class, but only if our representatives decide to legislate for the good of the country rather than personal gain.