Category Archives: Medicine

The problems of the American medical system, and the combination of government and insurance which pays for so much of it, go far beyond Obamacare. From Duane Norman at Free Market Shooter, fmshooter.com:

Obamacare “repeal and/or replace” has been the order of news lately; first, Republican Senators defeated President Trump’s healthcare bill, then they defeated Senator Mitch McConnell’s “repeal-in-two-years” alternative, leaving Americans stuck with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.  Needless to say, President Trump was less than pleased with this recent development:

A clearly frustrated President Trump lambasted GOP senators at The White House this morning demanding that they cancel their August recess and not leave town until acting to repeal ObamaCare.

“We can repeal, but we should repeal and replace, and we shouldn’t leave town until this is complete — until this bill is on my desk,” the president told senators at the beginning of a lunch meeting at the White House.

“Any senator who votes against debate says you are fine with Obamacare,” Trump said.

Trump didn’t build our broken healthcare system, so if Republicans are unable and/or unwilling to pass a bill, he’s right not to “own” out of control healthcare costs

Remarks from Trump moments ago: “Let Obamacare fail. It’ll be a lot easier.” “We’re not going to own it. I’m not going to own it.” pic.twitter.com/tq2l0sUdWW

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 18, 2017

…and though the “repeal and replace” option was fraught with problems, and an outright repeal of Obamacare would have been the preferred outcome, it’s not a silver bullet that will fix what ails the US healthcare system.  Yes, Obamacare took a bad system and made it worse, but the law didn’t change the core principles defining insurer-provided healthcare, medicare, medicaid, and out-of-control doctor’s bills.

To continue reading: Obamacare Repeal Alone Can’t Fix America’s Busted Healthcare System

Ann Coulter says the GOP would be better off not killing off Obamacare, which is dying of its own accord, but instead just letting market mechanisms work to remedy Obamacare’s many deficiencies. From Coulter at anncoulter.com:

Republicans are about to do something very stupid. Using bribery, threats and cajolery, they intend to pass a catastrophically unpopular bill on a party-line vote.

GOP: Obamacare is unpopular, so let’s pass a new health care bill that’s even MORE unpopular.

Normal Person: Why would you do that?

GOP: No, you don’t understand. Obamacare is totally imploding, so if we pass this bill now, all its problems will be blamed on us!

Republicans would be better off doing nothing. They can survive the ridicule for running against Obamacare through four election cycles and then not repealing it. They cannot survive a bill that does nothing to fix the actual problems with Obamacare.

The only explanation for the GOP doing something so stupid and unpopular is that it’s all about tax cuts.

Why can’t we get it through their heads that we didn’t elect Trump to cut taxes? Forty-five percent of people don’t pay any federal income tax — and they voted for Trump! Taxes on high earners (or “Hillary voters”) are at a historic low.

Here’s a somewhat more important issue I’d like to submit for Republicans’ consideration: PEOPLE CAN’T BUY HEALTH INSURANCE THEY WANT, CAN’T SEE THE DOCTORS THEY WANT AND CAN’T AFFORD THEIR PREMIUMS AND DEDUCTIBLES.

How about allowing people the option of buying insurance that doesn’t cover sex change operations, gambling addictions, psychotherapy, liver transplants for illegal aliens and so on?

Instead of squandering this moment, Trump the businessman should seize it to trumpet the free market. This is a golden opportunity to give a speech explaining why, contrary to everything your professors told you, communism doesn’t work. To paraphrase Talleyrand, what Republicans are doing with Obamacare is worse than a crime; it’s a mistake.

To continue reading: GOP Rallies Behind Idiotic Bill

Government-run health care is being touted as necessary to ensure everyone, especially the children, get health care. Governments reduce both the quantiy and quality, and increase the cost, of what they provide versus what would be available in private markets. From Ron Paul at ronpaulinstitute.org:

This week the Senate Republican leadership unveiled its Obamacare replacement plan. Like its House counterpart, the misnamed Senate plan retains most of Obamacare’s core features.

Both the House and Senate plans allow states to obtain waivers providing relief from some Obamacare mandates, although the waivers in both bills are too restrictive to be of much value. For example, the Senate’s bill does not allow states to have waived two of Obamacare’s most destructive mandates — guaranteed issue and community ratings.

The healthcare debate is dominated by emotional rhetoric about how government-run healthcare is necessary to protect the vulnerable. For example, in May, Jimmy Kimmel Live host Jimmy Kimmel delivered a touching monologue about his newborn son’s open-heart surgery. Mr. Kimmel ended his monologue with a plea to retain Obamacare so all children can obtain life-saving treatment. After the monologue became a national sensation, many suggested that any Obamacare replacement plan be judged by a “Jimmy Kimmel test.”

Every decent human being supports a healthcare system that ensures children have access to medical care. However, this does not mean every decent person should support government-run healthcare. In fact decent people should oppose all forms of nationalized medicine.

Government intervention in healthcare distorts the marketplace with mandates, subsidies, and price controls. As is the case with any goods or services, price controls in healthcare result in shortages and even price increases as providers look for ways to offset their losses caused by the controls. This is why many Americans have seen their health insurance premiums skyrocket under Obamacare.

Government-run healthcare can be deadly. Anyone who doubts this should consider the case of Laura Hillier, an 18 year-old Canadian who passed away from leukemia while on a government medical treatment wait list. This is one of many horror stories from Canada, and other countries with nationalized healthcare, of individuals who died while waiting for their turn to receive medical treatment.

One need not look to Canada to find casualties of government intervention in healthcare. In 2013 Sarah Murnaghan, a ten-year-old cystic fibrosis patient, almost died because of federal rules forbidding children her age from receiving organ transplants. Public outcry eventually forced the government to allow Sarah to receive the transplant, but how many Sarahs have died because of government organ transplant rules?

To continue reading: Republican Healthcare Plan Fails the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Test’