Democratic Health Care

Most Democratic presidential candidates are betting that health care will be the issue for the 2004 presidential election. Not the war on terrorism, not taxes, not even the sluggish economy. And the polls support them. For example, in a recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 80 percent of Americans said it would be "very important" for the President and Congress to address health care costs and senior drug coverage.

Consequently, Rep.Richard Gephardt (D-Missouri) is boldly offering a huge, nearly universal health care plan that would subsidize employers' health care insurance purchases by doubling their 30 percent tax credit to 60 percent. Companies that currently don't offer employees health insurance would be required to pass through the tax credit by purchasing health insurance. The plan would be paid for by rescinding the Bush Administration's 2001 tax cuts.

"We ought not to be the last industrialized country in the world to guarantee health insurance to all our citizens," declares Former Vermont governor Howard Dean. He would completely socialize medicine for the very young and the very old. For people under 23 he would expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program to cover them. He would complete the nationalization of health care for seniors by adding a prescription drug benefit. He, too, would pay for this by repealing the 2001 tax cuts.

"I see a new horizon for health care for all Americans with a universal, single payer system," declares Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D- Ohio). He would pay for it by levying a 7 percent payroll and a 2 percent income tax.

"They recently announced that they'll be implementing a health care package for the children in Iraq. I want to know: Why can't there be a universal health care for the children of Buffalo?" asked Al Sharpton in a recent speech in Buffalo, NY. Again, to pay for nationalized health care, Sharpton would roll back the 2001 tax cuts. And Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) has no specific plan, though he does say, "Universal coverage is a goal we need to achieve."

Bucking this trend, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), during the Democratic presidential candidates' debate in South Carolina this past weekend, denounced the Gephardt health care plan as one of the "big-spending Democratic ideas of the past." He added, "We can't afford them."

The siren song of universal coverage appeals to a surprisingly wide spectrum of Americans. Some corporate CEOs like it because they want to offload health care cost increases they can't control on the government. Some middle class Americans like it because they are afraid of being wiped out financially should they have a critical health care emergency. And of course, progressives like it because it satisfies their egalitarian concerns—we should all have equally bad health care.

Meanwhile libertarians and conservatives are failing to articulate a credible alternative, market-based vision of health care. At a recent conference in Washington, DC, Republican pollster Frank Luntz suggested language and word choices for Republican politicians to use when talking about issues like the environment and tax cuts. However, he simply threw up his hands when asked how Republicans can address health care.

So brace yourself. The health care freedom we currently enjoy, limited as it is, is about to be assaulted again.

>>Meanwhile libertarians and conservatives are failing to articulate a credible alternative, market-based vision of health care.

I agree, republicans need to offer something to improve the current problems with the curent system. Too many people uninsured and costs spiraling out of control for those that do have coverage...just sticking their head in the sand and saying that nothing can be done to fix or improve it is not a good strategy imo.

If the problem gets ignored for too long, critical mass will be achived and a complete takeover of the system could be the result of some future democratic administration.

From March, 1994...a good starting point:

Libertarian health care alternative: The 5-point plan

The Libertarian Party has developed a comprehensive proposal for health care reform that will reduce health care costs, while extending access to care. Our five-point plan:
1. Establish Medical Savings Accounts.

One key to controlling health care costs is strengthening the role of the individual health care consumer. As part of this process, an individual should be exempted from taxes on money deposited in a Medical Savings Account (MSA), in the same way that he currently pays no taxes on deposits to an IRA. Money could be withdrawn from an MSA without penalty to pay medical expenses. This would increase consumer responsibility, while increasing access and controlling costs.

2. Restructure Tax Policy.

As a second consumer-based reform, taxes should be restructured to establish equity in the treatment of employer-provided health insurance, individually purchased health insurance, and out-of-pocket medical expenses. All health care expenditures should be 100% tax deductible. This will add a measure of fairness to current tax policies that penalize the self-employed, part-time workers, and employees of small businesses, while subsidizing health care for the most affluent in our society.

3. Deregulate the health care industry.

There should be a thorough examination of the extent to which government policies are responsible for rising health costs and the un-availability of health care services. America can help lower health care costs and expand health care access by taking immediate steps to deregulate the health care industry, including elimination of mandated benefits, repeal of the Certificate-of-Need program, and expansion of the scope of practice for non-physician health professionals.

4. Replace the FDA.

The Food and Drug Administration is clearly an unnecessary burden on the American health care system. There is no evidence that agency offers Americans any real protection, but there is massive evidence that it is causing great harm -- driving up health care costs and depriving millions of Americans of the medical care they need. The agency should be abolished and replaced with voluntary certification by a private-sector organization, similar to the way Underwriters Laboratory certifies electrical appliances.

5. Privatize Medicare and Medicaid.

The current Medicare and Medicaid systems have clearly failed. Costs are skyrocketing. Patients are receiving second-rate care. And, providers are being shortchanged. The time is ripe for drastic reform. The federal government should begin to re-structure the system to give Medicaid and Medicare recipients more flexibility to purchase private health insurance.

Rep.Richard Gephardt (D-Missouri) is boldly offering a huge, nearly universal health care plan that would subsidize employers' health care insurance purchases by doubling their 30 percent tax credit to 60 percent.

And he will raise your taxes in order to pay for this. What does he mean by universal - world-wide or just nation wide? Does he mean limitless or are there strings other than raising taxes.

Gephardt's economics are frightening, he is talking Socialism loud and clear. This health-care approach has not worked for Canadians or for the English – it is horribly expensive and the wait for medical help is long, months sometimes and can be a year, one of the reasons those people come to America for much needed operations and help. Don be misled by this Pied Piper whistling an old tune – something for nothing – it just ain’t so.

Every single person in the United States of America ALREADY has GUARANTEED emergency room "coverage," whether you can pay for it or not. You show up - they are required by law to treat you.

But that's not what rankles me the most about the Dem's "plans" for health care. Rescinding the tax cuts will not increase revenue to pay for this "plan" - in fact, it may not increase revenue AT ALL. The Dems continue to play the Static-Scoring Game which they know but never acknowledge to be fallacious. The tax cuts haven't caused deficits to re-emerge, 9/11, two wars, and wildly prolifigate gubbmint spending have.

But then - the substance of any Dem running for office is never about information, truth, and solutions. It COUNTS on ignorance for its success.

Michael

TennCare is the "state" level of HillaryCare which would have consumed 1/7th of the national budget. READ about the FRAUD, WASTE and ABUSE of a program that covers only 25% of TN population..it's about to BANKRUPT the state. Dead, inmates, state employees, out of staters, illegals, out of COUNTRY folks are on TennCare and because of activists a federal judge has ruled we can't PURGE them off the rolls.

Folks with private ins who have premature babies have those babies automatically enrolled in TennCare. When you report some one has died who is on TennCare.......a year later they are still on TennCare.

One brain surgeon spent 11 hours operating on a patient and he got paid a whopping $150.00 for his services.

Hospitals in the state are squalling they are going bankrupt, docs are bailing because they aren't being paid for their services. It takes 6 months or more to get reimbursed at a small fraction of what your services are worth.

BUT the Dems want to implement this Nationwide. If TN can't afford it to cover only 25% of our population how can the Nation afford it for ALL the nation, plus the illegals?

TennCare audit

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