Replies to post #169806 on Simply Politics & News (GOV)

[extelecom]

Common sense keys to health care
By Dean Chambers
September 28, 2009 6:59 AM

While the leftist Democrats and “blue dog” Democrats argue in Congress over health care reform, and blame their lack of progress on Republicans they shut out of the process, they are missing the point. Common sense health care reform is possible but you wouldn’t know it listening to the bickering between the liberals and the extreme liberals over just how much government control they want.

The excessive cost of medical malpractice insurance that physicians must carry is the single largest budget buster in health care, caused by the rise of frivolous malpractice lawsuits and excessive awards in many of those cases. Sensible tort reform should be the first part of common sense health care reform.

The breakup of the old phone monopoly showed us how competition improved the quality of telecommunications services and lowered the rates for long distance calls. Competition and customer choice, true customer choice, will work in health care too. Common sense health care reform would let consumers purchase health insurance across state lines and in affiliation with groups other than their employer. What if you could take the money you pay, and that your employer pays, and shop around with other medical insurance providers to find a better choice?

While the so-called “public option” sounds like it adds another choice, the reality is a government option would eat up all the other choices and become a near monopoly. The most leftist members of Congress who have openly admitted to wanting a government takeover have admitted this, and this is the very reason they demand the government option be part of health care reform. But the public sees through this scam and rejects the public option.

Now there is talk in Congress about government-created health care cooperatives, which are no more the answer than is the government option. Government should not create any cooperatives, but should allow the creation of true citizen created health care cooperatives. Think of them this way: True citizen-created health care cooperatives would compare to health care corporations as credit unions compare to major corporate banks. Let’s say you work at a company that has 1,000 employees, you and your fellow company employees might well get a better deal on health insurance by creating an employees health care cooperative for those who work for your employer.
Common sense health care reform would not include individual mandates enforcing financial penalties for individuals or families who do not purchase just the kind of health insurance coverage the government says they should have. These kinds of mandates are fundamentally un-American; our country was founded on freedom not government control of our personal and family decisions.

There are many good common sense ideas that would truly increase customer choice and health care quality without further raising the costs or increasing government control. But the liberal majority in Congress and our own Congressman Bill Delahunt, just don’t get it. They think the answer is more government control and collectivist policy. We the people have spoken. If the Congress listens, they’ll dump all the current bills and begin working on something much more like that I’ve outlined here.
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