Posted by
Playful Walrus on Monday, December 21, 2009 12:32:43 PM
Is there an alternative to more federal intrusion into our lives, our employment, our wallets, and insurance? Yes, yes there is. And this alternative doesn't violate the Constitution, unlike the bills Congress has thrown together.
(Yes, this is essentially a repost, but I think it is warranted.)
Here is My National Health Care Plan. Spread the word!
1. The federal government stays out of health care as much as possible. See Amendments 9 and 10 of the Constitution. The federal government can get involved in breaking up monopolies, and prosecuting interstate crime such as fraud.
2. The state government stays out of health care as much as possible.
3. No government medical facilities for anyone other than military personnel (including veterans) and perhaps prisoners.
4. Every person is free to pursue a career in medicine, subject to the same laws as anyone else.
5. Property owners have broad freedom to host medical facilities on their property.
6. People are free to develop medical procedures, medicines, and medical equipment.
7. People are allowed to support #3-6 with donations and investments of time, money, their body, etc.
8. Every person is free to seek medical care (or not) from anyone anywhere in the world. They can demand to see licensing, such a medical license or nursing license, or certification of medical treatments from any number of organizations and watchdogs.
9. Every person is free to treat (or not) another person, and what to accept, if anything, as compensation, and when it will be due. Granted, anyone who wants a government license needs to stick to the government rules. Any medical professional who wants to keep an association with an employer or insurance company will have to abide by their rules as well.
10. Each individual is free to either negotiate how he will compensate those who treat him or to make arrangements to that effect. They can negotiate directly with their doctor or the doctor's representative, or delegate negotiations to an insurance company, charity, their union, their employer, their religious congregation, or some other voluntary association. Their friends, family, and strangers who believe they have a right to subsidized health care are free to pay for it, too.
All of this involves personal liberty and voluntary associations. Strictly speaking, nobody is forced to do anything - and that includes paying for anything. People who are afraid of a system like this 1) believe too little in the abilities of others; 2) want to force someone else to pay their way through life; 3) want to overstep their authority to spend the money of other people, gained by force, they way they see fit; 4) are more than one or all of the above.