Reform This !!!!

We have all heard allot about “reforming the health care system” here in the good old U.S of A. But health care is not a system any more than food or housing is a system. It is rather products and services that are provided by free individuals and consumed by free individuals as they see fit.
A “system” assumes that decisions as to what is provided and how it is used are directed by one central body – namely the federal government – for the whole of the country. To “reform” in this case means to control more efficiently.
We must understand that ,by definition, this takes away control of the product from those who provide health care and takes away the freedom of choice from those who use it.
The freedom of a doctor to provide what care he deems best and of a patient to pursue the course of treatment he deems in his best interest should not be given up lightly for promises of lower cost or more efficiency.
History teaches us a freedom once given up is very difficult to get back. Once the government has assumed a power they keep it.
Make no mistake, the man who pays the piper calls the tune. Where the government is paying for health care (with your money) they will direct what is delivered, how it is delivered and who gets it.
The so called single payer system (the government being that payer) is the stated goal of those pushing this type of “reform” and has been for years. With that kind of control comes great power and makes citizens dependent on the state for their health, for their very life.
The dirty little secret is their agenda is not to make health care better but to take it over.
What problems we do have is from a lack of freedom and the information to make those choices - not from a lack of central control.
We have the best health care in the world because doctors and researchers have been free to innovate and excel; to create new and better procedures - and to reap the benefits of that work, both personally and financially.
The doctor ,in consultation with the patient and his family, have always had the ultimate power to decide what type of treatment is best. And having freedom of choice, the patient and his family can fire a doctor if they feel he is not acting in their best interest.
It's true that insurance companies and HMO's can restrict what treatment they will pay for, but you can still choose the policy and company you want. Also the treatment does exist if you can pay for it.
When the federal government is paying for all health care and mandating what care you can have, what are your choices? Go to a different country?
Much of the debate has centered around would a government sponsored health care system be more or less costly or efficient. While I believe it would be much less efficient and of poorer quality, that is really beside the point. The question is are you really willing to give up the freedom to control your own health care? Your body? Your life? Do you trust the government that much?
It's as if one day the government came and took you house and put you into communal state housing - explaining that it was more cost effective. Would your argument be “I think my old house is more cost effective” or “ you have no right to take my house, I am free to live where I choose”. ?
The classic tactic of a Stateist is to first demonize the thing they want to take over. The pharmaceutical companies, the health insurance companies, the greed of doctors etc. They put forward stories about innocent people who have been mistreated, maimed and killed. They report on the obscene amount of profit made. Once they convince us we should hate them, they offer to punish them on our behalf; graciously taking over the evil industry to save us, assuring us how much fairer everything will be once they run it.
Beware of big brother the savior who comes in the middle of the night to make it all better. As a wise man once said “ those who give up liberty for security shall have neither”.

James Coyne – Columbia Mo.
James Coyne is the owner of Coyne Agency Inc. and has worked as an independent broker and consultant in the Group and Individual health insurance market for the past 12 years.