It has taken the
better part of a week since the United States Supreme Court ruled on
the “Affordable Care Act” in order for me to gain what I believe
to be the proper perspective on how American citizens should act. For
those few who have read this law we know that it is not about health
care what-so-ever, but instead is about eroding and eliminating
individual property rights and inserting the government in the
business of re-distribution of wealth as they control the economy.
This is further evidence of the progressive movement toward a
totalitarian state or socialism.
Conservatives and
Republicans alike have fallen into the trap of arguing the issues
based on what is historically correct and or Constitutional. What
many fail to understand is that those who are attempting to bring
about this radical change believe in neither.. Compromise can only be
employed successfully when both parties share some common ground or
mutual foundational belief that can be built upon. The assumption
that the Constitution and rule of law was that “common ground”
has been the death knell to all attempts to preserve and protect this
sacred document and it's philosophy.
Whether
the law is repealed or not, We The People can in fact render it
useless and enact the correct measures to address the real problems
in healthcare that motivated so many people to support this tragic
law. There are 3 specific things necessary to create the environment
for the United States to create and maintain the most technologically
robust healthcare in the world. These are simple measure that we can
insist our Representatives and Senators address and reform, and in so
doing the quality of care will be unsurpassed. These measures will
also eliminate the need for “The Affordable Care Act” to even
it's most ardent supporters.
Tort Reform: The only change in
the current legal system necessary to ensure that both frivolous
lawsuits are reduced or eliminated, and that those legitimately
wronged are indemnified of their loss is to adopt a looser pay
system. When the looser of any legal action is forced to pay the
legal fees and court costs of their own counsel as well as the
opposing party's it gives all parties pause to consider whether or
not they are pursuing a legitimate action. This also reduces the
expense of malpractice insurance while at the same time reducing the
work load on the local court system.
Tax Reform: The current tax code
affords subsidies to Doctors, Healthcare providers and institutions,
and pharmaceutical companies beyond compare. These subsidies are pad
by all taxpayers, and they allow physicians to write off the
difference between their stated fees and their pre-negotiated rates
that they contractually agree to. Pharmaceutical companies are
allowed to sell their newly developed drugs for any amount they
choose for the first 3 years of a drug's approval by the FDA, but
when they sell it to a different country at a lesser price they are
allowed to write off the difference and be subsidized by the American
tax payer for this “loss” as well. As a result of the current tax
code, the American tax-payer is currently subsidizing these
professional organizations as well as the foreign nations they do
business with over and above the premiums paid for their own health
insurance.
De-Regulate: It is
as a result of Federal regulation that a person in Texas cannot
purchase their insurance from a firm in Tennessee, or a California
company cannot get their benefit package from a firm in South Dakota.
If today's politicians are so enamored with the “commerce clause”
in the Constitution, why aren't they asserting the State's rights to
have contractual commerce from one State to another in matters of
insurance?
Personal Responsibility: While
I may want to eat steak and salmon at every meal, my budget dictates
that once in a while I eat chicken, hamburger, or beans and rice; the
free market sets the costs of goods for my grocery budget, and it
should be allowed to operate in freely setting the market costs of
health care. For generations people have avoided discussing the cost
of their care with health care providers because they mistakenly
thought they didn't have to pay for it, “that's what they have
insurance for.” What nobody bothered to explain to these people is
that is the very reason why their individual cost for insurance has
risen over 6 times the rate of inflation for the past several years
and it will skyrocket beyond that with the bureaucratic involvement
of the Federal Government.
Unintended
Consequences: The liberal media, unions, and progressive activists
all cry “victory for the common man” as a result of the Supreme
Courts ruling of the Affordable Care Act being Constitutional. They
have spent the last 3 years saying that the poor and lower middle
class should receive free health care and purported that this law
would give it to them. NOT! When these people needed care prior to
having any form of insurance they went to hospitals and clinics'
emergency rooms and were never denied care. They didn't pay for their
care, and this also drove up the costs of private health insurance.
Next year all of these poor unfortunates will get a shock when they
file their taxes and try to get their own government subsidies, only
to find that their adjusted gross income is now subjected to an
additional 2.5% tax to pay for what they used to get for free. And
does the money go to the doctors and hospitals? No, that's why this
law included the provision of hiring an additional 16,000 IRS agents
to ensure the government receives these proceeds. So much for “free”
health-care.
So
instead of taking the polarizing position of arguing the merits or
lack there of within the “Affordable Care Act,” we should instead
push for the real reform that will bring about the necessary changes
to render the law useless while at the same time creating an
environment for the industry to thrive and people to get the best in
care. We can no longer afford to engage our time and resources in
debating with the progressives; it is time to act decisively with
forethought and vision. Let's turn the tables, and lead this
discourse, let them react, let them argue the merits of progressivism
while we implement the rights and freedoms of a Constitutional
Republic.