Are our current health care costs unsustainable like the democrats say? I think so. Will either side come up with a solution to fix the problem? I doubt it. 

The democrats ask for a public, government-run insurance company to “compete with those evil private insurance companies,” and the republicans said “no, but lets compromise.” Now they are talking about non-profit co-ops to provide more insurance to people and the republicans are looking at that as a victory i’m sure.

Can you name one industry that is regulated more than the medical industry? They provide health care to the poor through Medicaid, the elderly through Medicare, and for all our veterans. The FDA is in charge of what drugs can be put on the market. And after the government says it is safe, and if you have some adverse side effects, you can sue the doctor or the pharmaceutical company for millions. They regulate who can practice medicine through licensing, even though you went through 7 years of schooling for your medical degree, you still have to obtain and maintain your state license (why? further government regulation). They regulate what your doctor can and cannot do also through the licensing boards, and if something goes wrong while your doctor is providing you with board mandated procedures, you can sue the doctor for millions. They provide the majority of the funds for medical research. They regulate who you can buy insurance from by not allowing you to purchase across state lines. They regulate what your insurance has to provide, whether you want a certain service provided or not. Insurance companies require alot of paperwork and headaches, which in turn adds higher administrative costs, which you pay for. And pretty much everybody has health insurance because our employer provides it. Did you know that they do that because of government intervention? During the depression, F.D.R. put limits on private companies executive pay, think Obama’s pay czar, so companies started to cover their employees’ medical expenses as a way to get around the compensation limits.

The government has been in the health insurance buisness for 44 years now, and where has it gotten us? The so-called 47 million uninsured. The government is in charge of medical research, and where has it gotten us? Cancer rates are exploding, as are the occurence of genetical diseases like autism. Many people link this to the government REQUIRED immunizations your child has to have before attending school. The government is in charge of guarenteeing the safety of our medicine, and our doctor’s procedures, and where has it gotten us? Adverse side effects to medicine and doctor error is now the 4th most common cause of death. The government has been trying to control health care costs for ages, and where has it gotten us? It has the dems now trying to correct the problem with a whole lot more government, and the republicans arguing for just a little bit less than what the democrats want.

I hate to say it but, anybody who says this current bill would put an end to free market health care is just a few years too late to be making that claim. A free market is where a consumer has a need, and by price comparison and quality of service, chooses a provider. Think about the last time you went to the doctor, let’s keep it simple and say you had a cold. You bought some over the counter cold medicine, you had some choices but, the government regulates what can and cannot be sold so, they are all pretty much the same so you just pick one. A few days later you are still sick so you go to the doctor. Did you have choices of which doctor you went to? Sure. Did cost influence your decision at all? No, it all costs the same, just your co-pay. Well, your doctor writes you a prescription for some more tightly government regulated cold medicine and then you go to get it filled. Did you have a choice of pharmacies to go to? Yes. Did cost or quality influence this decision? No, it all costs the same again, and they all provide the same medicine.

What a free market experience that was! All the different doctors cost exactly the same, as did the pharmacies. Through government regulation, we pay small, fixed, amounts for identical health care and medicine no matter where we go, while the actual costs are going up exponentially. It is almost farcical to call this a free market health care system.

So the democrats introduce a bill to INCREASE government intervention, FURTHER regulate insurance companies, FURTHER regulate doctor procedures, and to AGAIN regulate employee benefits and compensation by FORCING them to provide more insurance or face tax penalties. The GOP says this bill will lead to socialized medicine. I don’t know about you but, it seems to me like it is already here.

In the words of our Dear Leader: “I don’t want the people who created this mess to do a whole lotta talking.” So to the 535 people in Congress, I BEG you to PLEASE, shut up, get out of the way, and let us 308 million Americans fix the problem that YOU created.

But… of course they are not going to do that……

Let’s say its the year 2020, and thanks to some “wonderful” bi-partisan compromise, every American now has health insurance through a private, public, or some non-profit co-op company or organization. But, by way of increased government spending, intervention, and regulation (paid for by more taxes), the Federal Reserve’s “Death to the Dollar Printing Press”, and, now, ALL 308 million of us Americans not giving a damn about who charges what for which procedure, or which pharmacy charges the least for what i assume will still be the same medicine as the one down the street like it is today because nothing has changed, and of course, costs are still skyrocketing. Health care has gone up from today’s about 17% of GDP to 28-30%. When the actual costs continue to rise, insurance premiums are obviously going to rise also. More people with insurance won’t “fix” it this time, everybody has insurance. They could further regulate procedures and illnesses covered again, but almost everything is already covered, of course cosmetic surgery still isn’t covered or overly regulated like today, and those costs will STILL be dropping and nobody in Congress can figure out why. But that could stop the bleeding for a couple of years, but what then? Will Congress then FINALLY realize that a free market fixes all problems faster, cheaper, and more efficiently than a beuracracy? God i hope so….

But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. It’s up to YOU to prevent the further socialization of our health care system. It’s up to YOU to start looking at the causes of our problems instead of just trying to fix the symptoms.

This is my first-ever blog attempt, and i’m sure these ideas have already been presented somewhere, but I ask you to please give me the harshest criticism you can….