Ron tackles health care.

The current Senate version of the health care bill is reportedly 2,074 pages. And who really knows what's in that cobbled together document, and how it would really affect American health care...?

I think most of us are altruistic. We want to help our fellow man, but when the costs for doing so are considerable, we want them to be damned grateful when we do it. I hate being taken advantage of, and I think that we are about to maybe have it stuck to us.

When you take the emotion out and think about think about it, health care is not a right. Although I don’t like to see others sick or in pain, I don’t believe that whole "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" entitlement involves me paying for someone else’s health care.

I understand that we already subsidize many folks over 65 with Medicare, but if those people worked before, they paid their FICA taxes and at least helped fund the program. And then there’s Medicaid; a federal and state program which already consumes up to 22% of states budgets, on average, to cover some 40 million low-income people in America.

Now the substance of the plan, as I see it, being pushed by some congressional democrats is to greatly expand the number of people medically covered by the government by requiring people to have coverage and then offering a government subsidized “Public Option” (insurance) in lieu of obtaining private coverage.

I don’t know much, but I do know that if they expect many of these “uninsured” or “under-insured” people who aren't paying for their health care now to run out and enroll in any program that they have to contribute to in any amount….well, those Congressmen are insane if they think that’s going to happen. I believe that most people who don’t have coverage aren’t interested in paying for it…ever! And they are not afraid of having to pay some piddly fine for not having coverage, either. They’ve had a free ride off their parents or the government so far; how could anyone think they are all the sudden gonna become upstanding citizens and begin to pay their way, no matter how small the cost. Even if they enact penalties for forgoing coverage, it’s a simple equation to these folks; say, 120 days in jail, or a 100,000 dollar hospital bill? What do you think they will opt for? They don't have any assets to go after....except maybe the X-Box and the Escalade, and the Escalade’s not going to be in their name by the time the bills hit.

So, some people say, “But, we are already footing the bill anyway.” …Well, I say, “Let’s stop it!!”

Instead of p***ing away our tax dollars expanding an already screwed up mess with some sort of government subsidized “Public Option”, let's try some other options first.

First, for those few uninsured who are actually interested in footing the bill for their coverage, let's get more private insurance companies in the mix by breaking down the barriers to getting insurance out of state. It’s silly to not be able to buy insurance from a reputable company in Pennsylvania if I live in Texas. And let’s have our employers step out of providing health care plans and put that health care money in our paychecks. Let us decide which insurance program is best for us. Maybe we could encourage personal collective “group” plans which leverage the insurance market like mutual funds to make costs more affordable. But if you choose to spend that money on an X-Box, or flat screen, well, God help you when you get sick. Life is about choices.

Then, if the government wants to spend a billion, let’s subsidize med schools for good students and attract more doctors to the field. That's one productive way to develop more physicians and drive down costs that's used by many developed nations.

Next, instead of sending medical malpractice suits to juries of laypersons who may make inappropriate decisions based on empathy, let’s send them to outside professional Medical Review Boards which would arbitrate malpractice suits. This could be one way to compensate people who have been legitimately injured and also cut down on the frivolous suits brought in to the courts, and which drive up the malpractice insurance costs even for highly competent physicians.

Then, let’s research and bill the employers who hire "undocumented" workers and their families who use local emergency rooms as primary care clinics. If the employers want to keep costs and wages down by hiring “undocumented” workers, they shouldn’t be doing it on the taxpayers dollar. You would need an enforcement agency with some teeth (like the IRS), but by going after the employers, you would have a fixed target from which to collect compensation for the local tax base. (My school and hospital taxes have tripled in the last few years because a major local employer back home—Bo Pilgrim!—decided to outsource his labor force from outside the U.S. )

In addition, we could triage a little better and send non-emergency patients home or to a primary care clinic of their choosing if they can afford it. I'm not advocating turning away the person with the butcher knife sticking out of the their thigh; but a runny nose, queasy stomach and 99 degree temperature, do not an "emergency" make...especially if you don't have insurance.

Also, we should break the pharmaceutical lobbies and enact drug price controls. I’ve researched this, and we are the only developed country without them, therefore we are the only country bearing the brunt of new drug development. Let’s force the freeloaders to pony up. A pill shouldn’t be 30 cents in Norway, and 7 dollars in the United States just because they refuse to allow their citizens to be extorted.

Finally, my pragmatic fringe proposal. Let's actually do that dreaded "r" thing, "ration". Why not have tests before the taxpayer pays a person’s medical costs? Have we gotten so far away from personal responsibility in this country that we feel that no matter how much a person has screwed up their lives, we (the taxpayer) must always be there with our “magic bag” of deficit spending money to bail them out. Is it so foreign a concept to think a person should have contributed something to the good of the rest of us before we wholeheartedly pay all their medical bills? ... Really.

I say screw it, bring on the "death panels" or whatever you want to call them, but we should enact them where your personal, criminal, and medical history are evaluated before the gov'ment steps in to embrace the astronomical costs of caring for someone who has elected to abuse their bodies and/or criminally prey on the rest of us. If they can pay for their own care, fine. If not, that’s tough... Or, maybe they can sell the Escalade. (I know! I'm a cold-hearted meanie!) But, I think if you spend 40 years smoking, boozing, drugging and sexing and, come down with lung or liver cancer, or some other associated dread disease, well…God help you...because I really don't wanna.

So, how ‘bout let's try these other ideas without another government ran program or "option", and then take another look. I think we can do better without it, and maybe our deficit plagued taxpayer kids will be able to afford something other than Top Raman for supper in 20 years.

Associated reading: How your employer got involved in your health care.