"Asking For Trouble In Health Care"

An Op-ed in the November 24, 2008 Colorado Springs Gazette compares
the current bailout crisis to President-elect Obama's future plans
for "universal health care":

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http://www.gazette.com/opinion/health_43988___article.html/care_univer
sal.html

Asking for trouble in health care

November 24, 2008 - 5:38 PM
PAUL HSIEH, M.D., GUEST COLUMNIST

"In the 1990s, politicians wanted to make home ownership as universal
as possible. They used laws such as the Community Reinvestment Act to
force banks to make unsustainable loans to millions of people. They
also expanded quasi-government agencies such as Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac to guarantee these loans.

This scheme could last only a few years. In 2008, the housing bubble
finally burst and economic reality caught up with the politicians.
American taxpayers were stuck with the tab for these "toxic"
mortgages. The result was the Wall Street Bailout of 2008 and the
worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

In 2008, politicians want to guarantee "universal health care" with
new laws and new government programs. President-elect Barack Obama
wants to require health insurers to sell policies whether or not
those policies are economically sustainable (for instance by
requiring them to issue policies regardless of pre-existing
conditions). He has also proposed creating a massive new "National
Health Insurance Exchange" to help ensure "universal coverage."

But no politician can evade the laws of economic reality.

Massachusetts' program of "universal coverage" requires hundreds of
millions of dollars of federal money a year to stay afloat, paid for
by the taxpayers of the other 49 states.

If the U.S .attempted this at a national level, there would be no one
to bail us out.

When Obama's proposed national system inevitably collapses under the
weight of market inefficiency and bureaucratic overhead, this will
merely pave the way to fully socialized single-payer health care.

Health care spending now comprises one-sixth of the U.S. economy.
Forcing taxpayers to pay for everyone's medical expenses would make
the $700 billion Wall Street bailout look like pocket change in
comparison.

Even worse, under nationalized health care the government will
eventually have to ration medical services to control costs. This is
already commonplace in other countries.

A Canadian woman who feels a lump in her breast oftens wait months
before she receives the surgery and chemotherapy she needs. In
contrast, an American woman can get the treatment she needs within
days.

According to The Telegraph, Great Britain's National Health Service
paid bonuses to primary care physicians who reduced the numbers of
referrals to hospital specialists - thus forcing those doctors to
choose between their oaths to their patients or the government which
pays their salaries.

Whenever government attempts to guarantee a "right" to health care,
it must also control it. Bureaucrats then decide who gets what health
care and when, not doctors and patients.

The fundamental problem with "universal health care" is the mistaken
premise that health care is a "right." Rights are freedoms of actions
(such as the right to free speech), not automatic claims on goods and
services that must be produced by others.

Individuals are legitimately entitled to health care that they
purchase with their own money, are promised by prior contractual
agreements, or are given to them via voluntary charity.

Attempting to guarantee an alleged "right" to health care must
necessarily violate someone's actual rights - the rights of those
compelled to pay for it. The ultimate victims will again be the
taxpayers, just as they were the ultimate victims of the Wall Street
bailout.

Instead of universal health care, we need free market reforms that
reduce costs, reward individual responsibility, and respect
individual rights.

Some examples include eliminating mandatory insurance benefits,
repealing laws that forbid purchasing health insurance across state
lines, and allowing individuals to use Health Savings Accounts for
routine expenses and to purchase low cost, catastrophic-only
insurance for major expenses.

Such reforms could lower costs up to 50 percent, making health
insurance available to millions who cannot currently afford it.

We can't go back in time and avoid the Wall Street Bailout of 2008.
But we can still make the right decision with respect to health care.
We must reject calls for "universal health care" or else we'll be
faced with a massive "Health Care Bailout of 2018."

The events of the past few months have taught us some important
lessons about economic reality. The only question is whether we're
willing to learn from them.

Dr. Paul Hsieh MD, of Sedalia, is the co-founder of the group Freedom
and Individual Rights in Medicine.

www.WeStandFirm.org