Ben Cerruti
Response to a Liberal Relative on Health Care Reform
August 18, 2009

A relative recently sent out an email asking relatives and friends against health care reform to keep an open mind to another point of view. That other point of view happened to emanate from MoveOn.org, a Progressive website primarily supported by George Soros who is an advocate for a two class new world order socialistic system. My responses to the five individual points – presented by MoveOn.org as “lies” – follow each of them.

Lie #1: President Obama Wants to Euthanize Your Grandma!!!

President Obama may not want to euthanize your grandma but he will not have the final say if HR3200 is enacted. Once enacted who knows what the end of life counseling panel would evolve into? It is well known that there is insufficient funding and presently not enough physicians and nurses to service the expanded number of people eligible under this plan. When the Government is making the decisions rather than patients and their family it stands to reason that they will be forced to make them for what the government determines is to the benefit of the country as a whole rather than for the individual patient. Common sense tells us this. I personally don't want to lose control of this personal decision making for me and for Jan and I assume you would also not like this to happen relating to your father and mother. There is no Utopia, when Government takes over you lose control. 

Lie #2: Democrats Are Going to Outlaw Private Insurance & Force You into a Government Plan!!!

The "Public Option" in HR3200 on the surface looks like a good idea. Why not provide competition to the private Insurance Co.'s to keep them honest? If more competition to keep prices down is what is desired why not open up the market to the private sector. This can be done now by passing a law to allow people to buy this insurance across State lines. Regardless, B.O. again will not have the control necessary for him to keep his promise. The market will have control. In order for the public insurance operation to function it must be set up by the Government and that will be costly and financed by tax dollars. It must provide insurance at a lower cost than private insurers. I know that there are those that would say they can do this because it is not for profit. I know from being in business myself that the incentive for profit makes one operate as efficiently as possible. If you believe that a government operated non-profit entity will operate more efficiently than a private one I've got a bridge to sell you. Further, if you believe that the Government will not opt to finance this "Public Option" to the degree necessary to cripple its opposition I have another bridge to sell you. 

Lie #3: President Obama Wants to Implement Soviet-Style Rationing!!!

The Government will have no choice in the need to ration. The market will determine this because when there are an insufficient number of physicians and nurses it will naturally occur. How many physicians and nurses will be attracted to the profession when they know that their income is going to be determined by the Government rather than the free market. Ask one of your close relatives who is a Dr.. There will also be a limited amount of money allocated for the health care program and this in itself will require an accordant degree of rationing.

Lie #4: Obama Is Secretly Plotting to Cut Senior Citizens' Medicare Benefits!!!

B.O. will have no control of the benefits that seniors will obtain under this plan. As explained previously, the market will determine this because of the need to distribute the available funding for the benefit of all patients as determined by the Government. There can obviously be no guarantee for any segment as to what they will receive.

Lie #5: Obama's Health Care Plan Will Bankrupt America!!!

Medicare and Medicaid presently are in the red. Medicare is scheduled to go into bankruptcy in 2019. HR3200 is a plan that will simply expand Medicare to cover many more people. Common sense must tell one that this can only lead to bankruptcy. Now, does this mean it will still function? Probably but never as it has been presented and will effect every patient and American drastically over time. Actually the Government is bankrupt now. The FED prints "fiat" money to stay afloat. As long as the people accept this paper as real money the country will struggle along. At some point, this paper will be forced to be inflated to pay off the huge amount of interest on the national debt that is made with higher valued dollar, with cheaper dollars. This will happen when the economy recovers to a degree that will force the FED to tighten the money supply . If it doesn't I will buy that bridge from you.

Now, is there a possible solution to this health care dilemma diminishing the Government's involvement? Yes there is. It should be obvious that the first step to take in reducing the price of health care is to establish its free market price. A way to do this is to look at what Milton Friedman, a noted Nobel Laureate in Economics now deceased, suggested a few years ago. His plan would establish Medical Savings Accounts allowing the participants the freedom to select their own health care services. Providing a voucher directly to the consumer to be deposited in their tax free IRA like retirement account for this purpose would allow them to do this, keeping any money not spent as savings towards their retirement. Seniors would retain any unspent money for their retirement use. Dr. Friedman also suggested another option that would provide every family in the U.S. with high deduction catastrophic insurance. This would also end the tax exemption of employer provided medical care and remove any restrictions that now exist that may be necessary for this to occur. The cost of health care would then be determined just like the cost of any other type of merchandise or service. There would have to be a phase in period but we have until 2019 when Medicare dies to do this.

It has been my experience in my 83 years of life that Government can never be trusted to follow the declared good intentions of elected and appointed officials making them. Since these people are replaced over time by others with good intentions of various persuasions their implementation and changes to the original intentions occur that alter and distort those original intentions. What occurs is not reversible and simply builds a complex structure of bureaucracy that becomes unmanageable and invariably contradicts that which was originally intended. Rather when government allows the free market operating on a level playing field to manage its business people are capable of solving their own problems. Government is there only to make sure the playing field is level not to play in the game. The Government has never operated a financially successful business and never will because it can run deficits. When businesses do this they eventually become bankrupt.