Issues

I promised to explain why this new health care program scares me. This will not be a complete list because I don't know enough about it still (at over 1,000 pages, I'm not sure anyone can claim to be an expert on this), but this is a start, at least.

#1 (and Most Important). It's a Bad Idea.
I'm against the whole principle of government running health care. I've stood in line at the DMV, and I've tried to figure out the forms for filing taxes and hiring employees, and lots of other programs implemented by the government and there is too much bureaucracy and red tape ANY TIME THE GOVERNMENT IS INVOLVED. The very idea of having the government run something makes me cringe, and something as important as health care is one of the worst ideas ever. I don't see why it's the government's business at all which doctor I see, or how much I pay him to take care of me. I should have complete control of this. When have you ever known of the government doing a single thing efficiently or correctly the first time?

But what about people who-- unlike you-- can't afford health care? I have three-and-a-half answers for them: i) find a better job. ii) don't get sick. iii) find a charitable organization (there are a lot out there and most hospitals budget for a certain amount of charity cases). If all these things fail, iv) apply for medic-aid, or whatever it's called in your state. The government has already intervened to help these people, so why it's suddenly a big emergency is beyond me.

#2 Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know About the Rising Costs of Health Care.
A. I keep hearing about the "rising cost of health care" but very few people seem to be pointing out WHY the costs are rising, and that's something we CAN'T afford to forget. Health care costs are on the rise because medical knowledge is on the rise. The drugs and procedures we have to fight cancer, replace hips and knees, screen for diseases, etc, etc, etc, have all grown exponentially during the last century. And these things cost money. That's fine-- I think it's reasonable to pay something for the miracles of healing that we enjoy living in this day and age.

B. Even if I felt that the rising costs of health care were completely unreasonable, how is a government take-over going to help? How can the government make health care cheaper? Possible methods include:
i) cutting your benefits. It's already been stated that elderly people will be given pain medication, but not much else. (Sorry, grandma, no new hip for you. You can lay in bed taking painkillers.) This is not an option I like. I want to be able to choose what I will pay for. I don't want to be forced to pay taxes only to lose all my options.
ii) rationing health care. I have the same problem here as I did for (i)-- if I have to pay anything, then I want all options available to me.
iii) forcing drug companies to make a smaller profit. A lot of people seem to be on board with this idea, and I can't understand why. Yes, drug companies make a lot of money. But they also spend a lot of money to develop these new drugs, test them, get government approval, and then market them. I think they deserve to make a few bucks. Why else would they bother doing it? That's called capitalism. It's also the reason that most medical technology over the last fifty years has come from America. The minute the government tries to limit their profits, these businesses will shut down and we won't have any new drugs. Is this really what we want to encourage?
iv) paying doctors less for their services (see #6 on my list for why this is a bad idea)
v) awarding doctors for spending less to treat patients. This was done in the early days of HMOs and it was a complete disaster.

NONE of these are a good idea. Cutting costs in health care is a bad idea.

C. The other reason that health care costs are on the rise is due to the way health insurance works-- HMOs, co-pays, company benefits. All these things have effectively eliminated competition between health care providers. The patients don't know how much they're paying for anything because it's "covered by insurance," the doctors don't particularly care, so what happens is that the cost goes up because there's no reason for it to come down-- no one knows how much they're actually paying for anything. (Ask me how surprised I was when I got the hospital bill for Bentley's birth-- $23,000! But insurance covered all but my $100 co-pay, so what did I care?) The price for things that aren't covered-- such as LASIK and most other elective surgeries-- get driven down as people compete for business. That's also called capitalism, and in this case it should be working for you, but previous government intervention has halted that process. More government intervention won't help.

#3. What's the Rush?
I have a problem with the fact that this is being done in a hurry. Obama makes it sound like we need to push this through Congress as fast as possible because there are uninsured people out there who will die if we don't hurry to their aid. Even if passed, this bill will not go into effect until 2013 (although, in typical government form, taxes will be raised to pay for it in 2011-- any bets as to whether or not this money will actually be set aside for health care? Anyone? Anyone?). This is WAY too important to rush. The real reason for the hurry is that Obama is worried the 2012 Congress will be more conservative and thus even less likely to pass health care. Fair enough. But that's his problem, not mine.

#4. No One's Read It.
In connection to this big hurry, I'm against the government passing anything that they haven't read first. I think this should be a requirement before Congress votes. Only people who have read the proposed bill get to vote. And no, having your aids read it does not count. Check out this youtube video if you think I'm making this up. If it's too long to read, then it's too long to make it law.

#5. I Have to Pay For What Exactly?
I'm against forcing everyone to pay for everyone else's health care. Call me selfish, but I try to live a fairly healthy lifestyle and I don't think it's fair for me to have to pay the medical bills for people who don't. By the same standards, I don't think people who choose to not have children should have to pay for my pre-natal care and hospital delivery charges. I'm actively saving up money right now so I can continue to pay for my health care when I'm old and decrepit some day. If other people couldn't be bothered to save for that day, then I don't see why I should have to pay for them.

Of course, this also leads to another scary concept. If the government decides that it agrees with me on this point, then the obvious next step is to punish people for their unhealthy lifestyle by raising taxes on them. That's why we have huge taxes on cigarettes. Legislation has already been suggested for raising taxes on fast foods and soft drinks ("Obesity Taxes"). I don't even like soda, but I should have the freedom to drink it if I so choose. If it makes me overweight and leads to health problems down the road, then I'll pay for it myself-- in dollars and pounds!

#6. And We're Not Going to Pay Doctors?
I don't agree that doctors should be paid less and I certainly don't think their salaries should be cut by over 60%. Read it, it's in there-- anesthesiologists would take nearly a 70% pay cut. Personally, I could not be a bigger fan of the guy who gave me three epidurals and morphine for Bentley's labor and subsequent c-section. PLEASE pay the man for that! But all jokes aside, doctors are highly intelligent people who worked hard and spent a lot of money to go to medical school. Why shouldn't they be paid well for that?

And if you don't agree with me on that point, let's think about what the consequences will be if we decrease doctors' salaries. The first thing that will happen is that medical school enrollment will drop. The few people who still enroll will be those who aren't smart enough to realize that they won't ever make enough money to pay back their student loans. You want these guys treating you? And then, very quickly, the remaining vacancies will be filled by all the people who weren't smart enough to get into medical school before. I doubt you want them treating you, either. We'll then have to flounder around with sub-par doctors until eventually this will become a big enough problem that government will, once again, intervene. This time they'll offer rewards for going to medical school in the form of tuition which you, as the taxpayer, will supply. (But this won't happen until after at least one generation of really bad doctors.) I can promise you that it will be much more cost-effective, not to mention beneficial to your health, to pay our doctors up-front and bypass the middleman.

#7. What If This Doesn't Work?
Once started, it will be next to impossible to stop. Have you ever heard of a government program that ended? Even one that failed miserably? Once instituted, government programs don't go away.

#8. Lies About My Remaining Options
Although Obama is claiming that people would be free to keep their own doctors, this is not strictly true (which, in my book, makes it a lie). The fact is that you might be able to keep your doctor for a few years-- five years, maximum-- if your employer doesn't make any changes to the health care already provided you. If there are any changes-- and of course there always are-- then you immediately get bounced into the government version. Additionally, government subsidies (which YOU are paying for-- don't ever forget that) will make it impossible for other health care providers to compete. They'll go out of business quickly and then the only option left will be whatever the government offers.

#9. It Creates Dependencies
I believe that it's a bad practice for anyone to get something without "paying" for it. Margaret Thatcher insisted that even low-income housing require some payment and it turned out that people took better care of their homes when they were contributing to the cost of them. Government-run health care will give people absolutely no incentive to take care of their own bodies.

#10. The Constitution
In case these other arguments haven't convinced you, I have one last point: it's completely unconstitutional. Read the constitution. It's very short-- unlike, say, this bill-- and very clear. Read the Declaration of Independence, too, while you're at it. The freedoms we strive to ensure are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. No where is health care mentioned as a guaranteed right.

Let's keep it that way.