Health Care Reform

This health care reform has tentacles.  It will control major aspects of our lives, including our ability to choose.

I know there are still people out there who believe the government is made up of good, selfless people who care only for their fellow man.  But let’s just get over that, shall we?  The government is made up of politicians and bureaucrats, and they are just as interested in themselves as anyone else.  Is it any wonder that people are extremely concerned about the amount of power we are about to let them extend over our lives?  This health care reform will be the death of our freedoms and our rights as human beings.  We will no longer be able to choose what we wish to buy and from whom.  The government will be deciding that from now on when it comes to our health.

H.R. 3590, requires, “…all American citizens and legal residents [to] purchase qualified health insurance coverage” after December 31, 2013.

Notice that it says “qualified” insurance?  That means you don’t get to choose what you want to buy, the government will decide for you.  And actually, it won’t even necessarily be them who decide.  It will most likely be the most convincing lobbyists.  A Christian Science Monitor article written by Dr. Paul Hsieh, co-founder of Freedom and Rights in Medicine (FIRM), discusses the lobbyist problem that came about in Massachusetts after its universal health care plan was implemented.  He found that, “[s]ince 2006, providers have successfully lobbied to include 16 new benefits in the mandatory package (including lay midwives, orthodontics, and drug-abuse treatment), and the state legislature is considering 70 more.” With the economy struggling the way it is, is it really fair to enact health care reform that forces  Americans to insure themselves against things they have no reason to?

This health care reform is also more than likely to impact our unemployment numbers, forcing more people onto the government dole.  How could it not?  The Senate Democrat bill forces employers with 50 or more employees to offer health insurance benefits, or else pay a fine of $750 per person.  It would cost a business with 50 employees $37,500 just to not provide them with benefits.  Imagine how expensive it will be when they do choose to provide them.  This will result in less money for businesses.  That equates to less people being hired, lower wages and/or higher prices for consumers.  Think of how much more of a strain it will now be for employers to take on new employees.  Wouldn’t you think twice before hiring someone new, considering how much it will cost?

It also dampens the entrepreneurial spirit.  If employers want to offer their employees health insurance, it is their right.  But is it the government’s right to force independent business owners to take care of the health of their employees?  When someone decides to start their own business, do we really want to tell them it will require thousands of their own dollars going toward health insurance, on top of the extreme long hours and hard work it takes to be an entrepreneur?  I think it’s time we stopped taking these hard-working, driven people for granted. Pretty soon there won’t be much in it for them to start a business, so why should they?

The government is not our friend.  In my opinion, they should be looked at as an evil octopus, constantly trying to spread its tentacles over everything and everyone in order to achieve more power for itself.  The goal of government is to grow, no matter for what purpose.  Whether it’s to “defeat” global warming or to provide health insurance to Americans, the government is always looking for ways to control our lives, with the guise that they are “saving us” from evil profiteers.  But what we mustn’t forget, before we attempt to strangle these “profit” earners once and for all, is that without them government would no longer be able to support itself.  On second thought….forget I said anything.

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amanda, December 18th 2009 | Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Politics

If You Don’t Want the Government in Health Care, You Must Not Have a Heart

Isn’t that how the argument normally goes?  If you don’t want the government to provide health care for everyone, you must not care about people? Why don’t we take it a step further and name anyone a jerk that doesn’t want the government to ensure that every man, woman and child has food to eat, a house to live in and somewhere to work?  Shouldn’t the government be in charge of making sure we all have everything we need?  Well, I guess that depends on whether or not you believe that government should be able to take what it wants, when it wants, from whom it wants.  We all know that the government doesn’t make any money of its own (ok, it prints money, but it can’t produce wealth), so how would it provide all these things?  By taking wealth from its citizens of course.  I don’t know about most people, but I always thought it was wrong to just take what you want from others against their will.

Besides, if we create government run health insurance, there is much evidence to suggest that it will make everyone in this country worse off.  Despite what most people know about free markets, I think we all can agree that monopolies are bad and competition is good, right?  If we allow the government to come into the market with a taxpayer subsidized insurance option, it will put most other companies out of business.  That means less choices for us.  Most people, except the rich who can afford better, will be stuck with a government insurance plan.  Remember where government gets the money to pay for all of this. That’s right, the taxpayers. Is that an unlimited supply of money? Of course not.  That means the government will only have so much to go around.  What will they do to make sure they can give a little bit of care to everybody?  They will limit what we can use the insurance for.  How could they not?  They do not have unlimited sums of money! It has already begun happening with the new US Government Task Force increasing the recommended age for mammogram screenings. Think that’s not the beginning of the government trying to save money?  I would ask you to think again.  And if you truly believe the task force is right in its recommendations, I’d like to know if your feelings would change had it been Bush in the White House.

Where a private company has to make a profit to stay in business, the government doesn’t. Does that prove that business owners are just jerks trying to make a profit? No. It shows that a private business has to ask for your money, the government just takes it.  In order for the private sector to get people to voluntarily give up their income, they have to offer something people want in return.  They have to give good service, offer good products and do a good job (so long as they have competition), or they risk going out of business.  The government can just take money from the taxpayers when it needs to, so there is no incentive to offer the best service or the best price or the best product.  Why should they?  It’s not as though the Post Office will go out of business if it loses money.  As a government agency that enjoys no competition, it is able to “borrow” from the taxpayers to get necessary funds. The bottom line is this:  when companies must compete with each other and have to rely on profit to stay in business, they have no choice but to give consumers what they want.  Government relies on their guns and prisons to get what they want from people.  If you don’t want to pay them, you go to jail.  Simple as that.  If you don’t want to buy from a private business, you don’t have to.  If you need a product or service in the free market, you have many choices to choose from instead of one.

We need more free market choice in our health insurance options.  The government has done a great job of stifling competition, which has created the high prices we see today.  We must stop that from happening if we truly want better and more affordable health insurance.  Free choice, lower prices and better options?  Now that is where the heart is.

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amanda, November 24th 2009 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized

Government cannot offer good service

With the looming government run health care bill that may be taking over the health care industry in the United States, we might as well just say screw the children….and the elderly, and the middle aged.

What I find so crazy about this entire situation, is the way people talk about the government coming in and saving us all by magically offering everyone health care.  Doesn’t anyone watch the news?  I personally do so as little as possible (they hardly talk about anything useful), but all it takes is to turn it on every once in a while.  All they can talk about is how bankrupt each of the states are.  How there isn’t enough money for this or that program.  Schools need more money, budgets are being cut, the federal government needs to send funds to desperate states that cannot pay the bills.  But somehow, just somehow, we are going to pass a trillion dollar health care bill that will cover everyone (remember, a trillion has 12 zeros)?  What??  Did everyone just forget about how we can’t even afford what is currently in our federal or state budgets?  Not to mention the fact that unemployment is up to 10%.  Which is really closer to 18-20% if you add in all the folks who stopped looking for a job or have settled on part-time employment for the time being.  So what is this bill doing that will affect this unemployment rate?  It’s forcing employers to pay for health insurance for all their workers (with some small exceptions).  Hmmm.  I could have sworn that would be anti-job growth as it takes money away from those we want to start hiring people.  But  I sure am not a politician, so how would I know?

It’s time that America admitted the truth, that this bill cannot work.  It is impossible.

If people really think the government (subsidized by taxpayers don’t forget) will be able to pay for everyone to have the best health insurance, they must not pay much attention to the services they offer currently.  They must not frequent the post office, or the DMV/DOT.  They must not have heard how horribly our public schools compare to those of other countries – which is not because they are underfunded.  It’s not because of bad teachers.  It’s because it’s a monopoly that doesn’t have to make a profit or prove to anyone that they are doing a good job (they just have to make you feel bad for “the children” and vote to give them more money).  You will see the same with government run health care.  They will find ways to cut back on costs by cutting back on care.  Just like they do with everything else.  They will also find ways to cut back by dictating how people live their lives.  Just as they do in Japan where they measure your waistline to see that you’re under the government ordained weight.

Just as the social conservatives must realize that the government cannot dictate morals, the left must be able to see that they cannot force people to be healthy either.  Freedom allows good behavior to be rewarded (eating healthy + exercise = lower insurance costs and little to no hospital bills) and bad behavior (unhealthy eating + no exercise = high health care costs and a large number of hospital bills) to be discouraged.  When we give everyone the same price tag on health insurance (unless you’re wealthy, then you pay much more), what is the benefit of being healthy?  It’s nice to not get fined, but most people are ok to get monetary fines every once in a while if it means living as they choose.

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amanda, November 16th 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Politics