GOP Health Care Reform

The GOP has introduced their proposal for health care reform.

The GOP main ideas:

1. Let families and businesses buy health insurance across state lines.
2. Allow individuals, small businesses, and trade associations to pool together and acquire health insurance at lower prices, the same way large corporations and labor unions do.
3. Give states the tools to create their own innovative reforms that lower health care costs.
4. End junk lawsuits that contribute to higher health care costs by increasing the number of tests and procedures that physicians sometimes order not because they think it’s good medicine, but because they are afraid of being sued.

Nietzsche’s Hammer’s Review

1. This will absolutely reduce health care costs because the increase real competition through free markets.  These ideas are about preserving and individuals freedom of choice.  The reason that this is not in place is because of what is known as corporatism.  Corporations conspire with government through bribes to enact laws which will benefit the corporations.  The government gets more control and is paid off while the corporations are protected from competition and are able to offer inferior products at higher prices.  This is simply corruption.
2. This will also absolutely reduce the cost of health insurance by increasing buyer power and free choice in the purchasing decisions of the individual.  It is not happening for the same reason as in 1.
3. This proposal is simply undoing all the good that would be accomplished in 1 and 2 by introducing government control.  There is nothing good to come from government control regardless of whether it is done on the state or national level.
4. Tort reform is required and will result in reduced medical costs.  The danger here is that the government will make decisions for people and this is always bad.  This is complicated and the GOP must provide more details of exactly how it intends to implement this.  A good starting point is a “loser pays” policy but this may require a significant overhaul of the justice system’s standards and procedures.

Nietzsche’s Hammer fully supports the first two GOP ideas.  They move power back to the individual and reduce government.  Competition and selection will necessarily increase while costs in health insurance will decrease.  Since health insurance costs decrease there is less money in the health care industry.  This may also have the effect of bringing down health care costs as well which will benefit all including those who choose to not buy health insurance.

The fourth proposal is the seed of a good idea but must be carefully thought about so as  not to introduce more government control and restriction of personal freedoms as is the tendency to happen with all government intervention.

The third idea is simply creating the conditions for a government-run industry.  The only difference between this and Obamacare is that it will initially be implemented at the state level rather than a national level.  However, since all state representatives live and bribe each other in Washington, it will not be long before the corruption and horse-trading sets in and the members of Congress begin conspiring to create the state laws such that Americans are again living under a socialist system.  This idea is bad and should be rejected entirely.

The first two ideas will certainly reduce costs, improve quality, selection and availability.  The fourth is necessary by must be done carefully.  The third is simply going to take Americans on a short detour before returning to the same place in which we are now.

There are some interesting points regarding the first two GOP ideas that are the hallmark of all good ideas:

• They reduce government involvement and control
• They increase freedoms for all individuals
• They do not require the individual to do anything the individual does not want to do
• They require no money at all to implement

These characteristics are in no way to be found in the Socialist/Democrat Obamacare program.  Obamacare in no way increases real competition not will it decrease costs.  What Obamacare does is legislate private health insurance out of the industry.  This will eliminate competition, increase prices and decrease the availability and quality of medical care in the US.  Obamacare has been used in other countries like Canada and England and in both it has failed.  Obamacare has also been in place in the sate of MA.  The results after three years: costs are up and the system is near bankruptcy.  This is a preview of what will happen on the national level.

There are some good ideas, some potentially good ideas and some not so good ideas here.  The best part about this is that it offers Americans real choice in how they want to America to be and not the single Obamacare option which is no option at all but oppression.