Universal Health Coverage

"Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm — but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves." T. S. Eliot


Mr. Krugman gives an example of health insurance being canceled in one instance. "NY Times, Insurance Horror Stories. By PAUL KRUGMAN. Published: September 22, 2006." He sees a "trend". This is his excuse for having another huge government program, Universal Health Coverage, which is unconstitutional, like most other big government programs. I know some will spout the "General Welfare" clause as a reason for the Federal Government to do anything anyone wants. I submit that most of the programs done under the general welfare clause has not promoted the general welfare, but has created a nation of dependents and harmed the general welfare. The general welfare clause and the commerce clause has allowed congress to pass laws in an attempt to make everyone live happy, healthy and free. What they have created is a stack of laws that perverts the meaning of law, which is supposed to be written to protect persons and property.

As the example given by Mr. Krugman of an insurance cancellation instead of paying for a procedure, each state has an insurance commission that deals with such problems.

What is seen and what is unseen when a law is passed. If there is UHC, people will not look after their health. The smokers will be covered the same as non smokers. Obese people will be covered the same as those who jog and eat healthy.

Why does someone have a right to health coverage? Was this true before there were doctors? Why does someone have the right to a doctor's time and services? The doctor spent many years of study and effort to train himself to earn a living. Why does someone else have a "right" to his time. Does someone have a "right" to food produced by a farmer? Does someone have a right to clothes produced by a clothier?

The way to reduce health cost is to get the government out of the health industry. They regulate everything in the industry; insurance, drugs, licensing, etc, and the government's own Medicaid and Medicare programs contribute to the rising cost. Anything the government is involved in increases the cost. Industries that are not regulated and run by the government provide the best products at the lowest cost to the most users. The computer industry is a good example.

When I was born in the backwoods of Mississippi in 1935, my dad had no health insurance, and he was poor. Did he have a "right" to a doctor's time? A doctor came out to our shanty and delivered me. Dad paid for his services with a sack of peas from the garden. That was when the health industry was a free market industry. Today, a mother doing a natural act of delivering a baby is in a hospital surrounded by a staff of professionals. After delivery mothers want to stay in the hospital a few days and have free care. The insurance industry caught on to this and said, no more than two days in the hospital for this natural act. Update, 4/22/2010. The Health Care Act of 2010 changed many insurance procedures.

If the insurance industry decides what procedures will be covered, as Mr. Krugman implies, then one can only think of the horrors of a government bureaucrat deciding which medical procedures are approved. I'm sure a patient needing breast cancer surgery will go in front of the line, while a patient needing prostate surgery will go to the end of the line.

Many low income people will buy cigarettes, alcohol, lottery tickets, DVDs, and other unnecessary items, but, they will not buy health insurance.

When congress passed a law requiring all emergency rooms to provide care for anyone who showed up, even illegal aliens, or others without insurance, the emergency rooms became overcrowded as more people sought medical attention for minor illnesses. The same will happen with Universal Health Care. More people will go to the doctor with minor illness. Universal Health Care will become community property and some will abuse the common property. http://dieoff.org/page95.htm The American Psychology Association will lobby for UHC to provide counseling for anyone who is under stress. The pharmaceutical industry and the AARP have already lobbied successful for insurance to cover---VIAGRA! No wonder health care cost are increasing. With UHC the hospitals and doctors will be overburdened. You know what will be next? Rationing. The bureaucrat who will be deciding what procedures to authorize cannot help playing God.

Most of us can remember when our parents did not have health insurance. Back then one could buy morphine at the pharmacy, without a prescription! Midwives delivered babies at home for a few dollars or exchange of goods. Since then the health industry requires licenses. Doctors want you to "pay" them a visit to get a prescription for pain medicine. The FDA is on the fix also. No drugs unless they approve them. 10 years of costly research before a new drug is approved. In the meantime you deal with what drugs are available, and they may not be enough. Thank goodness Edward Jenner did not live in our day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Jenner

We live in a happiness society where we expect big government to make us happy. The mantra that "everyone is entitled to good health care" has become like a verse in the bible and it has it's born again true believers. A true believer is one who denies facts. http://skepdic.com/truebeliever.html

Many societies in the past, tribal societies, were very communistic. They did not have private property rights. They shared every piece of food. No one could eat until the food was shared equally. This community property societies destroyed incentives. Why should someone walk a long way and take risk in killing game if he is going to have to share it before he can eat? These community property societies were surpassed by societies that had property rights and free trade.

I watched a friend fight ovarian cancer for over two years, and then pass away. It was a house of horrors. Four major surgeries and 100 days in the hospital. Illness is something that frightens us all. I count my blessings that I get up each day, mobile and not taking any medication. Some of us are luckier than others. How we deal with the unlucky events in our lives will continue to be a topic of debate. But if we put the task of making others deal with our unlucky events, we will never learn how, and we will never be able to teach our children how to manage risks.

Charles Tolleson