American Health Care Reform

A lot is being bantered about right now regarding health care reform. What will that mean? Will it include a government option (or “public option” as the Obama administration is calling it)? As Americans we have to ask (and answer for) ourselves some very important questions before this issue gets a vote before the Congress. What do WE want the American health care system to look like? Do we want a free-market system, or one that the federal government administrates? Do we guarantee coverage for everyone, no one, or somewhere in between? If we have a government plan, do we model it after another system in another country, or do we create our own bureaucracy?

There is no easy answer to the health care conundrum this country finds itself in. In general Americans like the free market. However, Americans are also a compassionate people that don’t want to see people without food, clothing, shelter, or in poor health. We have now a couple of decades old programs, Medicare and Medicaid, for our seniors and the poor and disabled. We have SCHIP to help cover children in poor families not covered by Medicaid. We have become so generous that these programs now take up a fairly large amount of the federal and state budgets. As a nation we spend roughly 16% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on health care.

I believe a few things need to be fought for, and fought for strongly. America can have the compassion we prefer, without destroying the free market health care system that has brought the world so many innovations. A government plan will destroy the American health care system we know today, and the Democrats know it. Our system isn’t perfect, but it is the best in the world in quality and innovation. What we need to do is harness innovation to make our existing free market system more efficient. We need tort reform… and badly. Recent estimates put annual savings in the neighborhood of $60 - 80 billion annually, without limiting access to care.

Much is spoken of the estimated 47 million people in America that do not have health insurance. This number sounds horrendous, but it is disingenuously thrown around as though it represents all of the chronically uninsured, and that 100% of the 47 million are uninsured due to cost. Here is how that number breaks down (per U.S. Census Bureau, the Employment Policies Institute and The National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation):
Nearly 20 million people likely can afford insurance but do not purchase it, including over 9 million that earn more than $75,000 per year
At least 9 million are non-U.S. citizens (legal and illegal)
12 million are eligible for public medical benefits but do not take advantage of them
11 million decline insurance through their employer
So what can we surmise from these numbers? Approximately 41 million people either choose to be uninsured, are eligible for existing public aid and don’t take advantage of it, or are not citizens. By my estimates this leaves around 6 million fellow citizens that are involuntarily uninsured. This is the group of people that we should be addressing. Instead of scaring people into believing that nearly 16% of Americans are without health care of any kind, it is more like 2-3% of Americans have fallen into the cracks of our system. This is a much more easily tackled number. Something that I am certain we can do without compromising our free-market system. We can also do a better job of getting those 12 million citizens into one of the public benefits programs.

At the core of my beliefs is that: the nation’s future is dependent upon the next generation; therefore all minors should have access to quality healthcare, government funded if necessary. Likewise, in a show of gratitude for the nation we have inherited, all seniors should have access to quality healthcare, government funded if necessary. All able-bodied adults should have access to competitive, affordable private healthcare insurance. It is the right of every American to pursue their own happiness, and the government should only be providing the security and infrastructure to make this possible… not attempt to define and pursue it for us.

Additional Articles for Consideration:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/26/health-cares-big-secret/
http://www.hoover.org/publications/digest/3459466.html
http://www.hoover.org/publications/digest/2993946.html
http://www.hoover.org/research/focusonissues/focus/15553542.htmlhttp://www.heritage.org/LeadershipForAmerica/health-care.cfm