I wrote part of this blog article a few months ago when the healthcare bill was just starting to pick up steam. Now that it has passed I felt compelled to update it and post it in response to many of my very liberal friends rants.
Let’s define morality. Merriam-Webster has several definitions however I think the most appropriate one is “conformity to ideals of right human conduct”. The open questions out of that statement are of course who defines what is “right” and who gets to enforce it?
If my four year old son has a toy and another child does not, he knows that the right thing to do is share his toy. I don’t have to tell him. I don’t have to force him. Every action that I do sets an example for him in which he uses to build his own definition of “right”. If he refused to share, and I insisted that he did, my ownly recourse would be to force him on threat of punishment.
I honestly believe that the vast majority of people are good, caring, and compassionate. I believe that they have their own moral compass that guides them as to what is right and wrong. I believe that morality can never be forced as it is a part of who we are. While we can’t force someone to be moral by the definition of the majority, we can punish them for not agreeing. That is what is happening with healthcare and a great many other things in our country today.
I believe that most people would openly assist those in need in whatever way they can. Healthcare organizations have programs to assist those in need. Pharmaceutical companies have programs to get drugs to those that need them but can’t afford them. The statement I often hear is that “Nobody should go without the basic right of healthcare”. While that statement is partially true in that “Nobody should go without healthcare” it is not a right. A right is something granted to us as Americans by the bill of rights and our constitution. A right is something to be protected by the government, not given.
Like so many government programs they are yet again using their guns (by threat of jail) to force morality on the people. I find this particularly interesting in that my liberal friends are also very outspoken about the government staying out of their personal morality. Why is it okay for the government to force people to share their wealth with the less fortunate (an act which should be governed by an individual’s morality) but not okay for them to tell them how to live their lives? How can you possibly be for nationalized healthcare while also against the ban on gay marriage? How can you be for repeal of drug prohibition while supporting new social legislation?
The role of the government is to protect my rights as granted to me by the constitution and the bill of rights; it is not to tell me how I should live my life. If I want to share my wealth with those less fortunate that should be my decision. If I want to get married to another man that should be my decision. If I want to smoke marijuana that should be my decision. Unless my actions infringe on the rights of those around me in a truly free country the government has no authority to have a say about my actions. This new healthcare bill is just another way for the government to force us to the majority’s idea of what is “right”.
There are many folks out there who have not been courteous and respectful during the debate on healthcare. To anyone who used disrespectful, selfish, or hateful tactics to try and stop the passing of this legislation, I fully deplore your actions. However the partisan nature of the comments I see flying in rebuttal to those people are completely disrespectful and not helpful either. Just like you would never go around stereotyping all persons of a specific race or ethnicity, you should not stereotype all republicans and democrats.
While I am certainly not a republican, I am very offended by a couple specific tweets I’ve read from my more liberal friends.
A few examples:
“Let’s just say it: the most profound difference between Dems & Repubs = the former cares about those less fortunate; the latter does not”
“I truly wish that the small percentage of tea-baggers who can read at a 10th grade level would read this: http://bit.ly/bcTDj7”
“Hope americans are watching these old white gnarled hands of GOP hate try to keep health impoverished americans crushed and hopeless”
“Those on the other side of the aisle for whom it applies: Hope you have nightmares tonite about “socialized” medicine & the end of the world”
“”Party of no” spewing lies hate and fear. Any of these guys look like they are suffering from health care poverty?”
“Unbelievable listening to middle age white gop hate mongering men attack America in the people’s house.”
I don’t believe for one second that the members of congress who opposed this bill are also opposed to helping those in need. I believe that they understand that trying to legislate a solution to a problem as far reaching as healthcare would ultimately prove disastrous.
Assuming you can get past the argument of morality and think that the government should be implementing such a policy, we are ultimately left with the effectiveness of their solution. When has the government done anything better than a private organization? Why would they be able to manage healthcare better? The problem with our healthcare system is too much government intervention not too little.
Instead of adding more laws we should think about repealing some already on the books. If the healthcare system was deregulated and liability limited, doctors would be able to practice medicine without fear of getting sued. Insurance companies who offer malpractice insurance would be able to lower their premiums to the doctors. The ability to actually make a good living as a medical professional without the fear of going bankrupt at the slightest mistake would entice more of our brightest minds into the profession.
With the additional legislation just passed it is only going to be costlier for them to do business. Organizations which provide their employees premium coverage are now going to be taxed for doing so. With the increase in cost employers will compensate by reducing benefits to those “legally required”. The decrease in benefits means that there will be fewer people able to have access to cutting edge treatments and procedures. Fewer people with access will mean that the cost will stay prohibitively high or that the research dollars will not be spent to create them in the first place.
In the pharmaceutical realm deregulation would mean companies wouldn’t be afraid to spend larger amounts of money on R&D if they didn’t have to worry about getting sued all the time. They wouldn’t have to worry about their patent expiring and a generic hitting the market that completely undermined their research efforts and took away any chance they had at making a profit. They wouldn’t have to worry about paying out billions and billions of dollars in a class action lawsuit when a drug that hits the market doesn’t perform as expected or has undesired side effects. They would know that because there are folks who have “premium” coverage out there they can charge the amount required to recover their investment and know that there is a market for it.
We are free to choose what we put in our body based on the recommendations of a doctor we trust. Why do we need the FDA to tell us what is okay? Do you know there are drugs out there that could save the lives of millions of people but are blocked by FDA trials? Individuals need to take responsibility for their own action, and where the individual doesn’t have the knowledge to make the right decision, they need to turn to someone they can trust. Can you honestly tell me you trust the government more than your family doctor?
If all of the above happened and doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies were allowed to do what they do best, save people’s lives, healthcare prices would drop dramatically. It would become affordable to the vast majority of Americans. For the few that still were unable to afford it there are still private solutions and charities. It is not the government’s responsibility to provide for its people.
I have friends who are on Medicare/Medicaid (In full disclosure my Mom was before she passed away as well) and it drives me nuts how abused the system is. They have better coverage than I have and I consider the policy that my employer offers me to be very generous. When I see them take a sick child to the ER because of a fever it drives me insane. They didn’t pay a single cent but the taxpayer just paid through the nose when all they needed to do was ensure rest, liquids, and maybe a little Tylenol. Again, healthcare is not a right it’s a privilege.
When something is available without individual cost and consequence it will encourage abuse. A system which holds nobody accountable is one that will inevitably fail.
