Politicians Still Promising Healthcare Amidst Economic Turmoil

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), Senator Joe Biden (D-CT) and their surrogates are still running around the country waging their “vote me and get freebies”, promising universal heathcare for all Americans.  Just today former DNC Chairman and Clintonite, Terry “smarmy used car-salesman” McAuliffe was in Williamsburg, Virginia extolling the virtues of Senator Obama’s government heathcare bonanza¹.  It would appear that Senator Obama is audacious not only when it comes to hope, but also in his willingness to subject voters to a factual denial of reality.

Let us however, not misconstrue my analysis of Senator Obama’s healthcare buffet is in any way an endorsement of Senator McCain (R-AZ).  It is my opinion that Senator McCain’s silence on the issue is wholly predicated on the fact that this former prisoner of war consistenly votes against veterans and veterans benefits such as Senate Amendment 3704 – 109th Congress, a bill to provide an additional $20 million in health benefits².

Fact of the matter is, we are bankrupt from current benefits due on current government programs such as Social Security/Medicare³. Additionally, let us also not forget this most recent Wall Street bailout, as well as the additional bailouts yet to come. Nevertheless, politicians cannot wait to promise us “universal health care” as the pensions evaporate, 401k’s implode, and talk of economic depression abounds.

Do we realize that centralized planning has failed us time and time again?  We only need to look at how those who already receive “Free Universal Healthcare” are treated and the quality of service  they receive, namely our veterans. The following video is absolutely unacceptable and a disgrace to our nation.  Is this the Republican’s idea of supporting our troops?  After watching the video, ask yourself how good “free” healthcare would be for the rest of us, if this is the quality of service provided to those who are willing to pay the ultimate price…

So let us do the math, less than 3%⁴ (less than 9,000,000 Americans) of the U.S. population is either a veteran or active member of the Armed Services. At 3%, the government fails to provide quality care, so how good would the service be if the government decides to try and cover all 300 million plus Americans?

If that makes you mad, just phone your Representative and Senators and ask them about how we as taxpayers fund their AAA rated PRIVATE insurance policies via our paycheck withholding and income taxes. So how does it feel knowing we toil our labor so the Aristocracy can continue their privileged lives up on the hill? How does it feel to know that our toil also bails out the criminal Plutocratic Oligarchs on Wall Street?

What are “we the people” left with after these scoundrels plunder our tax dollars on benefits for themselves and associates?

Promises. All we receive is pandering to our inner sense of fairness, and empty promises.  When will we realize their is no difference in the core beliefs of either Democrats or Republicans?  The only difference is in their elections strategies, but make no mistake, they both think of themselves as entitled, and we as their indentured economic servants.

Policy wonk portion of post continues below…

So since we know how poorly veterans health care is, does this mean we should grin and bear it when health care received from “universal health care” is second rate? Why should one individual be held accountable for someone who freely decides to eat fried food all of their life and then needs a heart transplant by forty or fifty? Moreover, why should someone else pay for my own personal choice to smoke? It is my responsibility to pay my own higher policy premiums for freely making that choice. Should any of us pay for the individual on the motorcycle who refuses to wear a helmet and gets into an accident? Of course not.  They are free in my opinion not to wear a helmet, however please do not expect the rest of us to pick up the tab for what amounts to an irresponsible free choice.

The fact is health care costs are spiraling out of control due to government interference, not from the lack thereof. Insurance costs began truly escalating after passage of the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973⁵. This created HMO’s, exempted Federally Certified HMO’s from state regulations and mandated that employers with more than 25 employees provide Federally Certified HMO’s to their employees. (nice catch-22 – huh?)

The problem with government mandates is that they cause more problems than good, simply because of the broad nature in which they must be applied.

For instance, the “group” premium is how employers decide how much to charge employees for their insurance. So if good old John Smith suffers a couple of heart attacks, Jimmy Whatnot has cirrhosis of the liver from lifelong alcohol abuse, and Jane Smith needs prenatal care, all employees must absorb the additional use of the policy through higher premiums, which then equals smaller paychecks. Moreover, let us not even go into how mandated coverage provides an incentive for employers to “lay-off” or “fire” employees who are in their 40′s and 50′s. It is an unintended consequence of the government mandate.

Private policies only effect direct beneficiaries upon their use of the policy. Additionally, each employee would then receive about $5- $10k more in gross salary from their employers annually. As it is important to note that real wages are calculated by adding the cumulative cost of employer paid taxes, benefits (401k, insurance,etc) as well as actual monies paid in salary in dictating how much an employer can afford to offer as  direct salary to potential and current employees. Thus the net gain from an employee providing their own insurance in lieu of employer mandated coverage works out to be approximately $2,300 to $3,600, after paying for their private policy.

It is a huge misnomer that private insurance is somehow too expensive. The simple fact is that individuals can obtain an Medical Savings Account and catastrophic policy for their entire family for less than half on average of what the bloated policy from their employer would provide. Policies like this cover hospital and emergency room visits and allow for a percentage of wages to be set aside tax free as long as they are spent on health services. Yes it takes work to tweak the policy, but god love the internet and someone with the slightest bit of gumption can accomplish this in a few hours.

So what about prescription drugs? Again keeping with the philosophy individuals need to take responsibility for their own and families health first, all of the evil, greedy pharmaceutical corporations offer prescription assistance, whereby some individuals will receive their medicine for no cost while some will pay a reduced rate for their medicine from the manufacturer. Again this takes some leg work in calling the pharmaceutical companies and getting in touch with the representative to walk one through the process.  However, the net gain is worth the extra effort in my opinion.

Moreover, many of the major pharmaceutical companies now belong to the “Partnership for Prescription Assistance” which has made the process even that much easier.

In the end big government does not work, and more government to fix the last problem created in and of itself by government will not work either. We must indeed take responsibility for our own families first. Because if we as individuals do not feel our own health is our responsibility, then please explain to me why insuring and inanimate object like a vehicle would be.  Do we not also then have a “fundamental right” to basic motorized transportation?

Liberty in Our Lifetime,

Allison

Souce(s): ¹Associated Press Article “Ex-DNC chief stumps for Obama but eyes Va. – ² Senate.gov U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress – 2nd Session – ³NATIONAL CENTER FOR POLICY ANALYSIS  – ⁴ United States Census Bureau – ⁵United States Code TITLE 42 – PUBLIC HEALTH,CHAPTER 6A, SUBCHAPTER XI – HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATIONS -