America's Health Problems

Before we embark on a wholesale, radical and complete takeover of our health care system by bureaucrats, let’s step back and size up the problems we are seeking to address with reform. Ask the average American, “What’s wrong with our current health care system?” The answer is usually two-fold: too many without insurance and skyrocketing costs. Let’s look at each of these issues:

1. 47 million uninsured. The president and the media love to throw this number around as the main reason to upend our current system. But let’s look at who is uninsured…
a. Experts say 10 million non-citizens, illegally residing in this country, are without insurance. We’re told this is an issue of compassion and social justice. This from the same president who says we spend too much in the last year of life and that we must ‘encourage’ people to enter hospice. Honestly, is that compassionate? In essence, what the President is proposing is to ration the care of senior citizens, denying them end-of-life options and care, and redistribute those resources and care, in large part, to provide health care service to non-citizens illegally in this country. Is that justice?
b. According to the census bureau, 17 million (38 percent) live in households with an income of over $50,000 per year. Nine million live in households with a combined annual income of over $75,000. My guess is that a substantial share of these households could afford insurance, but have made the decision no to.
c. Over 18 million (40 percent) are between the ages of 18 and 34, who, as a group spend four times as much on entertainment as they do on out-of-pocket health care expenses. Many of these young people have decided they are invincible and made the choice to pursue other spending priorities. Obama would have us subsidize their irresponsibility.
d. Approximately 14 million people (31 percent) of the uninsured already qualify for government health insurance programs but choose not to sign-up. Would creating another vast, complex bureaucracy that they won't sign up for matter to this group of people?
e. The CBO says that 45 percent of the uninsured will be insured within four months.
f. And here’s a shocker, CBO analysis concluded that 36 million people would remain uninsured even if the Senate’s $1.6 trillion health care plan is passed.

As we see, the claim of 47 million uninsured is inflated and misleading. This isn’t to say that many are without insurance, but that isn’t the same as being without access. The liberals act as if the uninsured are left dying in the streets. They aren’t. They already have free health care that the rest of us pay for. By law hospitals are required to serve those who show up at their door. Do we need to address the problem of expensive insurance and expand access to health care, yes. But we don’t need a national takeover of our health care system to do it.

2. Costs are too high. I think we can all agree on this one. But in economic terms, how do you address high costs? Is it through more government intervention, more interference, more control? Or is it through greater competition and expanded services? When Obama says he’s going to decrease costs, he can do so only in one of two ways: price setting and rationing care. Price fixing always has the effect of diminishing available services – which means longer lines and worsening care. Rationed care is a frightening concept – it means that bureaucrats in DC will make health care decisions for individuals, rather then their doctors. It would be the greatest of intrusions into our private, personal, family decisions to date. Is there a way to reform health care that will empower consumers, expand services and lower costs? Yes, we can! Click here and here and here for more.

Even if you are not inclined to embrace free-market solutions, consider these questions…
* Will the Obama plan lower costs? Government intervention never leads to greater efficiencies and reduced costs. Have Medicare and Medicaid had the effect of lowering costs and improving service? Absolutely not. And yet, the President’s plan is modeled largely after Medicare – a program set to go bankrupt in a few years. Has the Tennessee’s TennCare experiment worked? No, TennCare would have bankrupted this state if it weren’t for Gov. Bredesen taking drastic action of cutting people from its rolls. Has Romney’s experiment of mandated insurance worked in Massachusetts? The shortcomings of that reform have led to people questioning his chances in 2012. You cannot say we will expand coverage to 46 million people and reduce costs. It’s impossible. And once you put a sign out that says ‘free’ – you better believe the system will immediately be overwhelmed as everyone will be lining up for the handouts in greater and greater numbers. Without the free market functioning freely, there will be no constraints on costs, on consumer behavior, and no incentives for better quality care.
* Will the Obama plan expand coverage? Yes – but only marginally. Millions will still be left uninsured (36 million under the Senate plan!) Is this minimal expansion of service worth the cost of rationed, lower-quality services to everyone?
* Will consumers have better service with more choices and control? Absolutely not. Since when does the government deliver services well or efficiently? What Obama is proposing to do is limit or ration care so that we can provide service to more people. He would basically put a government bureaucrat in between you and your doctor and limit your choices.

In short: the President’s plan would reduce choice, increase costs, and decrease quality. If 85% of us are now satisfied, why would we jeopardize our entire health care system, which is the envy of the world? We've already seen how Obama's health care claims cannot be trusted. Let’s reform health care, but only in a way that empowers consumers – and not Washington.


Click here for a very thoughtful and compelling article by Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.