The healthcare agenda

Why is the government continuing to push healthcare reform, ignoring, dismissing and disparaging anyone who disagrees?  Why have so many members of Congress refused to have town hall meetings during the August recess?  Why are they afraid to face us, their employers?

Even if we ignore the United States Constitution and agree that healthcare is a constitutional right, is government control the answer to the current failed healthcare system of state and federal programs, private programs and employer sponsored programs?
The government is convinced it can competently run the healthcare system.  But, can it?  It runs the nearly bankrupt Social Security program, the nearly bankrupt Medicare program, and just last week admitted it underestimated the deficit by a mere $2 trillion.  Not much of a track record.

And don’t forget Nancy Pelosi saying, with frightening sincerity, that all new costs will be captured from the efficiencies of government management. Which is more worrisome–that she made this statement or that she might actually believe it?

The government continues “doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.”  Einstein defined this as insanity.

Why is government control the only option under serious consideration?  Are our leaders ignoring other options that might be better?  A healthcare expert, interviewed for an April 13, 2007, PBS report on universal healthcare, proposed a voucher system.

Every citizen would get a voucher to purchase a basic healthcare plan.  The voucher would be risk adjusted for those people with medical problems whose basic plan might cost more.  Further, all private insurance companies would be required to offer the same basic plan.  Also, all government and all employer health plans would be cut out.

Anyone who wanted more coverage than the basic plan provided could purchase more coverage at their own expense.  When asked about the unfairness that some people could afford more coverage than others, the expert said it is not the government’s job to “provide everything that could possibly be done for everybody in the country.”  What a nice, common sense understanding of the Constitution.

Consider some of the benefits of this proposal.  It would allow continuity of coverage when changing jobs, when moving from state to state, and when transitioning from working to retirement.

The reward?  The government is out of the healthcare business and the size of government decreases.  The risk?  Will the government agree to less control of our lives, less power over us, and less bureaucracy?  Has it ever before?

Who offered these unique, heretical ideas?  Who thought of a new system rather than just patching an already troubled system?  Who dared propose less government?

It was Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, PhD, head of the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health, a widely published expert on healthcare reform, and now an advisor to the president on healthcare reform.  Coincidently, he is the brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

So, why are the administration and Congress ignoring a recognized expert on healthcare reform, especially since he was hired to advise the president?  Why do they want to patch a crumbling healthcare foundation rather than create a new solid foundation on which to build a better system?

Does this suggest there might be another agenda behind this massive spending, including buying control of banks and private companies?  Does this suggest why the government is bankrupting generations of future Americans?

The answer may be too simple to want to believe.  Are the self-proclaimed aristocracy of Congress and the administration convinced we citizens are no longer competent to control our own lives, let alone the government?

Are they keeping us divided as Republicans and Democrats, fighting with one another to prevent us from coming together to oppose the government with a united front?
While we argue petty party politics, with finger pointing and name calling, the government is methodically taking more of our rights, turning them into privileges it will grant at its discretion.

Perhaps it’s time to work together and take back our government before it’s too late.

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