Health care is the wedge issue for those who would insert more government control over the individual’s life. And why not, given public dissatisfaction with the status quo? But there’s a better way.
From Sen. Norm Coleman’s junk mail one page “annual report” comes these encouraging words on health care policy. It’s a start. (I have introduced paragraph breaks to make the text more readable. Text in bold is my emphasis; text in bold and italics was emphasized in the mailing.
Every American should have access to an affordable high quality health plan. Minnesota has the highest rate of insured citizens but we can and must do better. The answer is not bureaucratic, socialized medicine, as some have proposed, where government makes the decisions for you regarding your health care options.
Instead we should rely on the power of the private market, which gives you the quality of care you deserve and leaves you in the driver’s seat regarding health choices. I believe government should offer incentives for positive change and care for the neediest. I think government should give you control over your helath spending dollars through an insurance tax credit that ensures everyone has health insurance regardless of a person’s job.
Additionally, the federal government needs to encourage states to create a one-stop-shop to help people understand all their insurance options and make good choices for their families.
States should also be given incentives to organize the private insurance market in order to create cost-saving efficiencies and make sure no one is turned away. You should own and control your own health insurance, not the government.
What government can and must do is reduce barriers and help everyone get insurance. That’s a goal we can reach, and I am developing a plan to do it.
Without parsing each sentence, I’ll have to say that I’m pleased with the theme of this message. Too often, free-market folks have avoided the health care field, except to say “no government.”
Private bureaucracies–HR departments, HMOs, hospital billing departments–don’t have a great record, either. That makes it easy for the public to say “Hey, can it get worse?”
Yes it can, if we let government take over.
This isn’t to say that the status quo is defensible, either. Do you depend on your company’s HR department to select what kind of clothing you buy? What kind of house you live in? No. But we depend on corporate America for our health insurance plans.
How did we get into that situation? In large measure, government. Specifically, federal tax law.
Much needs to change in our health care policy. Two good places to start are Who Killed Health Care? and The Cure: How Capitalism Can Cure American Health Care.