How A Compassionate Anarcho Capitalist Would Fix Health Care
Although the Obama administration and their media machine would like you to believe that anyone who is against the newly passed Health Care Bill is cold and heartless and rich enough to afford great health insurance (and is happy with it), I am none of those. What I am is an American who believes that less government means more freedom, and that is what the Constitution and the Bill of Rights promises. Unfortunately, over the past 100 years, those documents have been gradually disregarded by progressives disguised as Democrats and Republicans. So here we are today with a bill that has passed which will eventually take over 1/6 of the US Economy, which is already on the brink of complete collapse. For the first time in American History, citizens will be FORCED to purchase something or pay a fine. I believe that’s unconstitutional…and creepy.
I am in the process of reading the entire bill, but at this time, I know this much- not a single Republican voted for it, much of it was written in secret, the original groundwork for the reform was allegedly written by a felon while serving time in prison, bribery and arm-twisting abounded, and politicians were so desperate to pass it that many are willing to lose their elected office. Why? I’m just a “stupid American” who needs to be cared for by the Federal Government, according to the elitists who crafted this bill, but I’m wise enough (and suspicious enough) to know that this isn’t about providing health care for the millions of uninsured Americans, or eliminating Medicare and Medicaid fraud, or solving the issue of rising insurance costs. It’s about one thing and one thing only…CONTROL.
Some people are comfortable with their government controlling their lives – Sweden is a socialist country which seems to have satisfied citizens, and hey- that’s great. Other countries aren’t so happy with their Government controlling their lives, but their leaders have a great way of turning them into satisfied citizens…just ask the Chinese or the North Koreans. Oh – wait – never mind…murdered people can’t talk. Hmmm…oh well, at least they’re not complaining anymore, and it does keep the health care costs down!
So…here we are at a crossroads in America. Are we going to stay the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, or are we going to kneel before our Nobility like good little serfs? Are we going to become a socialist nation, or are we going to stay FREE and BRAVE? I’d choose free and brave. I’d rather have the freedom to succeed or fail, and the bravery to try my best to work hard and provide for me and my own, and the compassion to help others who do the same but are less fortunate or have fallen upon hard times. I have figured out that I am pretty much an Anarcho-Capitalist/Libertarian/Constitutional Conservative, and I am also a compassionate person who helps when and where I can, with my money and my time (although Uncle Sam’s making it more difficult for me to be financially charitable so I tend to give more of my time). With that said, here’s how I’d fix health care. Now this is still a “Work in Progress” so feel free to point out the flaws or the things that are implausible…
THE OBVIOUS STEPS…
1. Allow people to purchase Health Insurance across State Lines.
2. Tort Reform, Tort Reform, TORT REFORM!
3. Completely overhaul Medicare and Medicaid, do a thorough forensic audit and investigation of current/past providers, patients, and Federal Employees. Depending upon how much they have contributed to the estimated $60 billion or more annually to fraud, (Miami Herald, August 11, 2008), fire them, fine them, or throw them in jail.
THE LIBERTARIAN STEPS…
I am a believer in freedom. I don’t want the Government to tell me what to do or not do, or tell me what to eat, and how much salt to put on it, I don’t want to be forced to exercise, I should be able to use drugs if I want, mountain climb, whatever – I believe that you should be free to do whatever you want as long as you do not harm others. With that in mind…
4. Create a think tank of Physicians, Statisticians, Insurance Company Representatives, Geneticists, Hospital Staff, First Responders, Psychiatrists…anyone who can provide information regarding how the human body works, how it responds to what is put into it or taken out of it, and what kind of fiscal impact these things have upon the health care industry. Once this data is collected, create “Risk Categories” for lifestyle choices. Lifestyle choices would mean just that- what kind of choices do people make and how does it effect their overall health? Examples of Risk Categories are things such as alcohol abuse, obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, a risky lifestyle (extreme sports, numerous sexual partners, chronic traffic violations?) I’m still thinking this part out.
5. Once these Risk Categories are established, they will become an industry “standard”. This would mean that people could shop around for Insurance, and be able to just ask for a premium quote for their Risk Category. In order to qualify for a requested Risk Category (for now on, I’ll just call it RC for short) proof would have to be required that you a) provide an initial physical exam (which would be standardized by the Think Tank) b) be able to provide proof that you are still adhering to your side of the contract at any time your Insurer requests it c) accept that if you lie, commit fraud, or change your lifestyle choices and fail to inform your Insurer, you will face consequences. Honesty and accountability will not be compromised, because you will be cheating your fellow RC Insurance members.
6. What if you don’t think it’s anyone’s business what you do to your body, but you still want Health Coverage? That’s fine too! You can just choose to buy the highest RC premium.
7. Your employer, instead of providing your Health Insurance would instead do something like what Whole Foods is doing. Check this link, if you haven’t heard about Whole Foods alternative to Obama Care. I think it’s brilliant, and according to their employees they love it.
THE COMPASSIONATE STEPS…What about the elderly?
As a Christian, I whole-heartedly believe in caring for the elderly, the orphans, and the widows as in James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. ” I find it UNACCEPTABLE that our elderly are left with little options when it comes to health care. Medicare is horrible, prescriptions are outrageously expensive, those who can afford private health care see their bank accounts dwindle should a medical crisis occur.
What about people born with a heart condition or Downs Syndrome, or epilepsy, or some rare genetic disorder? No body should be denied an opportunity to purchase health care, and no family should have to go bankrupt caring for a loved one with a condition that they were born with.
What if you get sick? What about the child who gets Leukemia, or the father who finds out he has a brain tumor, or the marathon runner that gets cancer? Insurance companies treat these people like garbage, and they can’t wait to drop them from their coverage. This is WRONG. We pay for insurance for these kinds of reasons, and the Insurance Company has to accept that sometimes they gamble and lose. They must accept that some of their customers will pay their premiums year in and year out and never need more than a yearly physical and a prescription for antibiotics once in a blue moon. They make a profit from these people, and it off-sets those who may need more health care.
What if you lose your job? My family has been there, and the outrageous costs of being on COBRA adds insult to injury. A few times, we just couldn’t pay the bills and keep our insurance, and let me tell you- it’ll keep you up at night worrying that if your kid gets sick, you’re toast.
So, here are some ideas to help the above-mentioned people…
8. Elderly people need more health care and more prescriptions. That’s a fact. I just don’t think it’s right to force them to go onto government run health care, and drain their life’s savings just to pay for medicine. Age should not be a punishable offense! Elderly people should still be able to fit into RC’s that fit their lifestyle choices. We don’t choose to grow old, but as we age, we can still make choices that keep us healthy. I know plenty of people in their 60′s that still hit the gym, and I see my elderly neighbors out walking their dogs several times a day. They’re trim, fit, and trying to stay active. I’d much rather spend tax dollars that are currently being spent on poorly run government health programs to subsidize/offset the cost of their Insurance so they can still get the same quality health care as everyone else.
9. No body with a condition that they are born with should be denied an opportunity to purchase health care. They WILL need more care, and it WILL be more expensive, but once again, to ask Americans to contribute taxes to offset the costs, and still allow these individuals to receive quality Insurance just seems like the right and generous thing to do.
10. Anyone who becomes ill (cancer, heart attack, LUPUS, etc.,) despite the fact that they honored their contract with their Health Insurance Provider should NOT be moved into a higher RC. They didn’t CHOOSE to become ill.
11. What if you are truly poor and cannot afford health insurance? I have no problem with a United States Citizen receiving Medicare…that is…as long as you refer to step 3 of my plan.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
This is, as I said, a work in progress. I’ve thought about it for a while, but never put it into words. I welcome any suggestions you may have. If enough American Citizens put their heads together, perhaps we could have a viable solution to present to the newly elected politicians come November.
Your ideas sound good, but I’m not sure how much it will slow the pace of rising healthcare costs. A lot of people are focusing on the cost of health insurance. I don’t see health insurance as the only cause of our rising costs. I think something needs to be done to the health industry itself in order to reduce costs. For example, I find it ridiculous that drug companies are airing prescription drug commercials targetted towards consumers. People should not be going to their doctor asking for a specific drug. Drugs should be based on a doctor’s recommendation. This started when it was determined that drug companies were giving doctors kickbacks for the amount of their drugs they prescribed to people. That process stopped (supposedly). Look at the amount of money drug companies spend on advertising directly to consumers. That could be money saved.
Also look at how many drugs the FDA now warns against and all of the attorney commercials looking for people to sue because of health problems caused by these drugs. I think the FDA has failed to do its job in the beginning when they approved these drugs. More testing needed to occur and drug manufacturers were not disclosing negative test results. Keeping these harmful drugs off the market in the first place would save drug companies millions (if not billions) in legal fees.
Why is it that prescription drugs are so much cheaper in other countries? I’m talking about the exact same brands as in the U.S. and manufactured by the same companies (not blackmarket drugs). Are the high U.S. profits subsidizing cheaper drugs for other countries or is the markup really that high to where Americans are flat out being overcharged?
Why is it that I can go to the ER on my own without insurance and receive a bill that grants me 10% off since I am a cash paying customer? Who says I’m going to pay; there is the risk that I will never pay the bill, but I’m still granted the discount. Why aren’t insurance companies granted discounts since the hospital is almost guaranteed to get paid?
Take a look at a detailed hospital bill from someone who has stayed for a week or more. Look at how much is being charged for little things like bedpans, gowns, drugs (compared to buying them yourself), tampons, q-tips, etc. It is absolutely ridiculous. Insurance companies are footing the bill for these grossly overpriced items. I can go to CVS and get this stuff about 90% cheaper.
Insurance is not our problem; it is the healthcare industry itself. With the high cost of healthcare, I can understand why insurance companies want to protect themselves from high risk customers.
You bring up many good points. I think there are quite a few reasons why Brand Name and new drugs developed in the US are less expensive in other countries…
1. According to Wikipedia, “The top twenty pharmaceutical companies and their two trade groups, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and Biotechnology Industry Organization, lobbied on at least 1,600 pieces of legislation between 1998 and 2004. According to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, pharmaceutical companies spent $900 million on lobbying between 1998 and 2005, more than any other industry. During the same period, they donated $89.9 million to federal candidates and political parties, giving approximately three times as much to Republicans as to Democrats.[1] According to the Center for Public Integrity, from January 2005 through June 2006 alone, the pharmaceutical industry spent approximately $182 million on Federal lobbying.[2] The industry has 1,274 registered lobbyists in Washington D.C. [3]
“You can hardly swing a cat by the tail in Washington without hitting a pharmaceutical lobbyist,” said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa)
2. Yes, I completely agree that advertising drugs is silly.
Excellent point. I completely forgot to mention lobbyists and campaign contributions in my first reply.
What this practice is causing is corruption. This lobbying and campaign contributions encourage politicians to oppose enacting laws that would decrease the profits of drug companies.
I know you are against most government intervention and believe in free enterprise, but I think the ideas in my original post can only be corrected with government intervention. The FDA should be forced to do its job effectively, which means forcing drug companies to completely test their products and produce accurate reports. It also means imposing price limits on drugs and hospital supplies with strict penalties for those that violate reasonable billing practices. I don’t think financial penalty is the answer, as this just increases the cost of doing business.
I don’t think anyone in the government has actually performed a complete analysis of the entire healthcare system (separate from Medicare and Medicaid). I would do probably do this between your steps two and three.
I want to thank you Dave for bringing up the drug prices. I am going to take your suggestions into consideration, and do some more research, and then add some more to my healthcare “fix”.
At this point though, I think government should stay out of approving drugs. They take waaay too long to approve life-saving medications that have already passed the test in other countries. I would be more for an independent, industry-driven approval plan instead. Let the market demand which drugs get developed and approved. Let volunteers try the drugs- there are many people with terminal illnesses that would be willing to take the risk…they have everything to lose and life to gain. If the independent groups of drug trial oversight didn’t have to waste time or money on lobbying, they could spend more time on research and clinical trials rather than running to Washington half-cocked, pushing for approval of a new drug before it’s been thoroughly tested. See, the way it works right now is the drug companies w/ the most $$ and friends in Washington get their drugs “fast-tracked” through the system, and the FDA just does what they’re told by the ones in D.C. – that is- if they want to keep their cushy government job, and all the perks that come with it. Let’s face it- “THE MAN” will sell us out for a few bucks, an ego stroke, and a good Porterhouse steak.
Also, anyone who wants to take a “new” or experimental drug should be allowed to do so, as long as they understand that there may be side-effects that have not yet been discovered, and they would sign a waiver, admitting they proceed at their own risk.
I think the FDA process is flawed in approving and denying drugs, but I think we would run into the same problems with independent firms. I’m not sure what the solution would be except maybe to threaten HUGE, bankrupting, penalties for any companies involved in fraud, fast-tracking, or failure to make a conscience effort to adequately test new drugs.
On a separate, but slightly related, note: When this government mandate that we must purchase health care insurance takes effect in 2014, we are still going to have Medicare taxes taken out of our paychecks?!?!