Ok, let's talk healthcare...

I've been meaning to write a post pertaining to the issue of healthcare for a while, and due to some issues raised by my sister's last post, I decided to go on and do it. I by no means consider myself an expert in the field, so I'm mostly curious to hear your opinion in regard to healthcare--does our current system in America work, and if not, what can be done to fix it?

I personally think healthcare in America needs some major revamping. My husband is a small business owner, so we have to buy our own health insurance--I know firsthand that it is ridiculously unaffordable for the average American who doesn't have this benefit through their job.

In most business transactions, there are two parties involved--the party providing a product or service and the party consuming that product or service. Why in healthcare is there a third party--the insurance company--making a killing off my healthcare? Does this not drive costs way up? Because the insurance company foots the bill, doctors can pretty much charge whatever they want--it eliminates alot of the competition that makes other sectors of our economy work.

And does it not make the consumer much less conscientious in regards to their healthcare? If all I pay is a $20 co-pay when I go to the doctor, I don't really care how many unnecessary things they do--I'm not paying for it. When I recently had a baby, I didn't care how many doctors charged hundreds of dollars to stop by my room and basically do nothing more than tell me how cute my baby was. But because we recently switched our insurance to an HSA, you better believe I'm now an extremely conscientious shopper when it comes to medical care. I've started calling around to pediatricians to find out how much it will cost to bring my child in for a well baby checkup, and do you know what? They can't tell me! They have absolutely no accountability to the customer, because they just bill the insurance company. Now, before anyone does anything to a member of my family at the doctor, I want to know what they're doing, why they're doing it, and how much it will cost. They look at me like I'm crazy. This system is crazy!

I mean, think about the implications in any other business transaction. Let's take grocery shopping for example. If I walked into the grocery store, paid a $20 co-pay, and was then able to get whatever I want with a third party footing the bill, I'd have a hay day! No more looking for good deals. No more comparing prices. No more off-brands for me! Heck, the store wouldn't even need to bother posting prices. Who cares? It seems ridiculous when you look at it in this light, so why do we take this system for granted when it comes to healthcare?

In my opinion, costs would go down if we gave individuals more responsibility for their own healthcare, and medical providers more responsibility for offering good services at competitive prices...not to mention eliminating third party profits.

So why not government funded, universal healthcare? In some ways, I wish I could make myself believe that it was a just and efficacious system. It certainly seems like it would make things easier on me personally to not have to pay for or worry about my own healthcare. But I just don't think it's right, and I just don't think it works.

When I think about someone else paying for my healthcare, I selfishly think it's a great idea. But when I watch my husband's company pay thousands of dollars in taxes to fund current medicare programs, I think "hey! that's the money I was gonna use to feed my kids with this month!" We have a hard enough time now running a business that provides us and others with a livelihood--I honestly don't know if we could do it if Obama increases our taxes as much as he would have to to fund his proposed healthcare plan. So in that sense, I would definitely rather pay for my own healthcare than watch the government tax my husband out of a job. We wouldn't be able to eat or have a roof over our heads, but hey, we'd have free healthcare!

And, as my sister pointed out in a recent comment, it's not right for those who live a healthy lifestyle (don't smoke or do drugs, don't drink excessively, don't have sex with multiple partners resulting in STD's, don't have abortions, eat healthy and exercise, etc.), to pay the medical costs of those who make different choices.

And I'm not even going to take time to touch on the fact that from everything I've read or studied, it is simply not sustainable long-term for the government to pay for universal healthcare, even if it were a good idea.

That being said, I know it's an extremely complex, not cut-and-dry issue. I know there are times when people need life-saving treatments and can't afford them. And I don't know what the solution is. What do you think?

Are You Going to the Tea Party?

There is a grassroots conservative movement organizing "tax day tea parties" around the nation for this upcoming April 15th. If you are an advocate of the free-market system and want to protest the out of control government spending, then make sure you attend your local TEA PARTY. Click here to see the official Tax Day Tea Party website and find out what's happening in your town on April 15th.

Spread the word to friends and family and join thousands on April 15th to let your voice be heard!

(For those of you who slept through history class, the "tea party" reference alludes to the original Boston Tea Party of 1773, an historic event marking the road to the American Revolution in which Bostonian colonists dumped British tea into the Boston Harbor as a protest against unlawful taxation.)

Food For Thought...

Though seldom heard in the mainstream media, there are some excellent conservative writers/thinkers/personalities out there. Walter E. Williams and Larry Elder are among them. We don't hear enough from them, so I'm giving you a sneak peak into what they're saying... You'd be wise to listen up.

Walter E. Williams is an Economics professor at George Mason University. Here are his thoughts on the "bailout": Lessons from the Bailout.

Larry Elder is a best-selling author and radio talk-show host. Here are his thoughts on "the rich" that everyone seems to be so angry with: In Defense of 'The Rich'.

(Thanks to Dad for the articles.)

Just wondering...

Some random thoughts I've had as I follow the news this week:

• How is it possible for a company to fail when the guy running it walks away with millions of dollars?
• How is it right for taxpayers to cover bad decisions of politicians and executives?
  
• Does anyone feel like the government operates like they can just pull money out of the sky (oh wait, they kind of can)? I don't know about you, but if I don't have money to buy milk at the end of the month, then my kid drinks water. If I can't buy gas, then I get a ride. Could someone in Washington please operate on a budget!?!?
• How are bureaucrats gonna be effective at handling mortgages and insurance? I haven't seen them handle much well even in their current jurisdictions.
• Why is president Bush a liberal when it comes to spending?
• Does this change Obama's game plan? I highly doubt all those programs he's promised are possible now. Raising taxes would put the final death nail in the economic coffin. Plus, who wants the government running healthcare if they failed miserably with mortgages... FannieMae and FreddieMac?
• Back in 2005, Alan Greenspan warned of the failing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. There was a bill proposed to reform the institutions. Republicans voted for it... Democrats blocked it.
• McCain was one of the people calling for Fannie and Freddie reform in 2005/2006. Why is he not playing this up?
• Is Joe Biden serious? This gaffe was pretty funny: "FDR president when the stock market crashed and addressed the nation on t.v." News flash: Herbert Hoover was president and people didn't have t.v.'s. I can only imagine the outcry if Palin had made the same mistake.
  

Patriotism???

The Democratic Vice Presidential candidate, Joe Biden, said today that paying higher taxes would be patriotic for wealthier Americans.  He also said, "We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people."

Patriotism, according to Webster's dictionary, is "love of one's country; the passion  which aims to serve one's country, either in defending it from invasion, or protecting its rights and maintaining its laws and institutions in vigor and purity."  Last I checked, the basic rights of Americans include things such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  A foundational right of Americans is equality for every person before the law.  How, then, can one justify taking from some that which is rightfully theirs?  Where is the equality before the law in that?  And now, men campaigning for the highest offices in our land are not only justifying it, but calling it patriotism.

This, my friends, is not patriotism; this is called socialism.

The dominant feature of capitalism is economic freedom.  It allows people to voluntarily decide what they want to buy, how much of it, what quality, etc.  It allows people to decide what they want to do with their own money.  In sharp contrast, socialism wants to do away with this basic individual freedom and replace it with an elite group (the government), who will then exercise increasing control over the market, attempting to equalize it as much as possible.

Why, though, is this so bad?  In short, because it doesn't work.  You see, people are basically selfish.  For many people, if they know they will end up with the same amount as their neighbor regardless of how hard they work, they simply will not work.  They have no incentive.

Author Robert Scheaffer says, "no intellectually honest person today can deny that the history of socialism is a sorry tale of economic failure and crimes against humanity...Socialism is simply 'envy' writ large, and elevated to a moral ideal.  It brands the most productive as criminals, and makes heroes of those who have difficulty achieving anything at all.  The full potential of the human race can never be liberated under such a warped ideal."

What this does not mean is that we should ignore the poor and leave them to suffer.  It just  means that socialism is not the best way to help anyone.  The goal should indeed be for everyone to prosper; the question is simply one of how best to achieve this.

In America we have adopted a welfare system, a method of redistribution of wealth, which is s tenet of socialism.  On the surface it sounds good.  Why would we oppose a system which helps those living in poverty?  For one, it is unjust--it makes people unequal before the law, taking from some to give to others.  But furthermore, it is a system that perpetuates poverty instead of remedying it.

We should indeed give generously to those in true need, those who are actually unable to work.  (And by "we" I mean individuals, churches, private organizations, etc.).  But it is in no way compassionate to remove all incentive for those who are capable of hard work.  Hard work, not a handout, is a lifeline for those living in poverty; it's an escape route to prosperity.

Wealth is not inherently evil.  Sometimes people become wealthy by oppression and exploitation, and that is evil.  But many people become wealthy by hard work, sacrifice, risk-taking, genius.  Most of the time, in this country, the wealthy inevitably prosper countless others by virtue of all the wealth they generate.  They create jobs and opportunities that would not otherwise exist.  They invest in other businesses, thereby generating even more wealth and economic growth.  But the government in effect removes from them this potential if they take from them this prosperity.  The government takes a few dollars and minimally provides for a family for a day, but if this money were left in the hands of those who were capable of creating it in the first place, it just may have created a job that would substantially provide for a family for a lifetime.

On the flip side, we can certainly not stand by and watch some prosper by corruption and exploitation.  Our system of government can only work for a moral people.  I recently heard a theologian say that capitalism is a stool with three necessary legs:  political freedom, economic freedom and moral restraint.  We are, to a large degree, losing the leg of moral restraint.  Consumers have lost restraint in their spending, and some banks and other large companies have lost restraint in their willingness to take advantage of those who don't know any better.  What do you think we can do about this?  While we must be vigilant about not seeing our political and economic freedom eroded by an increasingly gigantic government, we must also be vigilant to stand against economic immorality.

Well Said

"If you're waiting on Washington to secure your prosperity, you're a socialist." -Dave Ramsey

www.daveramsey.com

Extreme Makeover

Tonight while watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (and fighting back tears), I thought what an excellent example of American genius.

The episode was about a decorated marine who lost his leg in Iraq. The crew designed and built him and his 4 children an amazing new home, paid off his mortgage, and bought him a new car. Now I'm not a regular viewer of the program, but without fail, every time I see it, it brings tears to my eyes. The show is a perfect example of freedom, capitalism, sacrifice, etc. (as I said, the American genius) at work. Every week, this show changes lives in a way the government never could. With a combined effort from companies and volunteers, for-profit and nonprofit organizations, it gives needy and deserving families a new start in life.

Everyone involved from Ford to Sears to ABC to local contractors and builders gets to do good for someone else and promote their products at the same time. Shows like this are popping up everywhere. Oprah is premiering one in March.

Americans are extremely creative... finding ways to serve one another while generating new jobs, opportunities, and capital all the while. Just a thought: Could we not meet some of our nation's greatest needs in this fashion? Healthcare? Feeding the poor? Education? Caring for veterans? Why are we so quick to turn to the government for answers? We the people through hard work and creativity can "extremely makeover" our world.

(For more on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition's volunteer programs go to http://abc.go.com/abettercommunity/index?pn=index).