Health Care Solutions

"Never for the sake of peace and quiet deny your convictions." - Dag Hammarskjöld

Today the Morning Call ran a half-page advertisement promoting the campaign and upcoming events like the Allentown "Towne" Hall this Thursday evening.  However, yesterday in the letter to the editor section, the newspaper devoted the majority of its print space to publishing three consecutive letters (first, second, and third) attacking an earlier letter written, entitled "Health Care is NOT a Right" which can be viewed here in its 200-word version or its full article version.

I welcome dissent, and I am truly thrilled that the Morning Call published these letters.  While the Republican incumbent does not favor the bills, he views them as constitutional and has his own socialized plan which I challenged him on over the summer.  The Democrat challenger has not decided if he would vote for or against either the House or Senate versions of the bill.  I have challenged both of them to a public debate in November, with no response received from either campaign.

The below essay was condensed into 700 words and submitted yesterday to the Morning Call's Town Square section.  While I have no control over what they choose to publish, I hope they are indeed interested after publishing the three letters yesterday.  This was condensed from a recent letter "The Next Defense - Nullification of Health Care" and for an in-depth look at my views, please read and visit the links in my Health Care plank.

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Last month both the House and Senate passed two very dissimilar bills with the same purpose - to tax the American people around $900 billion more, and intervene government bureaucrats into the private lives of each man, woman, and child. Congress is currently reconciling the differences, and my prediction is that the bill will resemble the Frankenstein bailout bill after all the pork is added.

This bill's unintended consequences will worsen the quality of care and make health care less affordable. I believe the TRUE issue at stake is COST - if an MRI cost $200 instead of $3,000, it would be a lot less imperative to suggest drastic changes like socialized medicine. The TRUE root cause is the government-sponsored insurance cartels and quality-depleting, cost-increasing legislation such as the HMO Act of 1973. After all, President Nixon was told "all the incentives [of HMOs] are toward less medical care, because the less care they give them, the more money they make and all the incentives run the right way." We should not be surprised that the HMO structure did exactly this.

I have the practical solutions for lower costs, higher quality, and more features that will WORK:

1. I would introduce tax relief legislation to allow individuals and families to reduce their federal income tax nearly dollar-for-dollar by the amounts they spend out-of-pocket on private health care premiums. 
2. I would seek to remove the insurance state portability barriers that Congress has erected to protect the insurance cartels and raise costs. 
3. I would seek to provide a sound currency to halt rampant price inflation, so health care costs take up a smaller percentage of household income. 
4. I call for the state legislatures to remove state mandates that add 15-40% to Pennsylvania's health care premiums, and to pursuit tort reform to reduce the costs of defensive medicine. 
5. I would introduce a bill to suspend the obligation of individuals suffering from terminal illness or cancer to continue paying the Social Security tax on their income. 
6. I would introduce a bill to reduce federal income taxes dollar-for-dollar by amounts spent out-of-pocket by parents for their children with terminal illnesses, major disabilities or cancer. 
7. I have pointed out the dangers of state restrictions - via licensing and restricted seats in the medical school system - artificially restricting the supply of doctors just when the baby boomer explosion will need them the most. 
8. Supporters of mine have also sent in great ideas such as Health Care Sharing Ministries that voluntarily pool risk.

I have laid out the moral and constitutional position that health care is NOT a legal right. I have pointed out that the health care bill's proposed changes in labor laws will DEVASTATE the poor, the very people the bill is supposed to assist.

I have promised to only accept the median household income for my salary, and will donate the remainder to local non-profit hospitals. I have pledged I will not enroll in the elite congressional health care plan, as who can trust someone who legislates on another's health care but is not subject to the legislation themselves?

I have presented the American people with the choices they SHOULD have – guns or health care? - as most people do not understand the insane cost of a military that costs more than the rest of the planet COMBINED.

The next action I recommend pursuing once the health care tax is signed is nullification. We must keep in mind at all times that the states created the federal government, and not vice versa, and the states have the unquestionable right and power to strike down legislation that is unconstitutional. When the Constitution was passed to replace the Articles of Confederation, it was contested that the Constitution would lead to a vast expansion of federal powers and usurping of the peoples' and states' rights. A public debate was held for years in newspapers, taverns, and town halls before the Constitution was ratified. Today, the American people are given little ability to debate with their so-called representatives, my novel-yet-simple "Our Open Office" plan will solve this.

Jake Towne

January 11, 2010

In September 2009, I covered Health Care Economics with Michael McKay of Radio Free Market.  Here is the summary. 

   

The Health Care Plank is available below or from the website.

 

Jake Towne - Health Care Plank (Full)