Essentially the whole health care public option" debate is about who controls health care and who makes the decisions about how it is used.
There are two things we all need to keep in mind about a public option. First the public option is really government-run government-financed and government-controlled health care. That is the government runs it pays for it and controls it.
But the most important thing to remember about the public option is that everyone in it will be dependent on the government for their health care and all the power over their health care decisions will lie with the government.
All the talk from Obama and the Democrats about reducing the cost of health care while expanding coverage is a smoke screen. If they truly wanted to reduce costs ideas such as the expansion of health savings accounts and tort reform would have been at the top of their to-do list. If they were serious about expanding access they would have immediately introduced legislation to de-couple health insurance benefits from employment and created a tax credit for the purchase of health care benefits.
A great deal of the talk has focused on how much America spends on health care but as author and columnist Mark Steyn has pointed out Americas health care spending is predominantly an individual decision with hundreds of millions of people making hundreds of millions of decisions about what they are going to spend on health care or on health insurance. In Canada where Mr. Steyn once lived the government does make those decisions. Unless of course the individual makes the decision to cross the border into the United States to pay for health care they cant get in Canada.
Moreover the Canadian health care system is in crisis. Dr. Anne Doig the incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) told doctors who had gathered for a conference in Saskatoon that they should all recognize that changes must be made in their health care system. In an interview with the Canadian Press Dr. Doig said We all agree that the system is imploding we all agree that things are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize."
The current president of the CMA Dr. Robert Ouellet agrees that the Canadian health care system needs to be restructured and … that competition should be welcomed not feared." The bottom line is that the Canadian universal health care system is on the verge of going broke and they are looking for ways to cut costs.
In addition an article in The Vancouver Sun reported that … patients needing neurosurgery treatment for vascular diseases and other medically necessary procedures can expect to wait longer for care."
According to a document from the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCHA) which oversees the budgets for hospitals and other health-care facilities over twenty-five percent of the operating rooms will have to be closed and 6250 surgeries cancelled to make up for a dramatic budget shortfall that could reach $200 million according to The Vancouver Sun. Dr. Brian Brodie the president of the British Columbia Medical Association called the proposed cancellation of surgeries a nightmare."
The paper reports that cuts would affect as many as 112 full-time jobs including 13 anesthesiologists. Moreover the reductions will affect more people than those whose surgeries are cancelled. Other reports indicate that outside contracts for mental health services and services to the elderly are also being cut and the number of MRI scans which will be provided will be limited to last years total which means some people will not be able to get the scans and those who can will have to wait longer.
Waiting for access to technology such as MRI machines and for surgical procedures is something Canadians have become accustomed to. Even before the current health care budget crisis there were almost 900000 Canadians awaiting care.
Keep in mind Canadas entire population is just over 33 million.
Despite what the liberal mis-informants continue to tell people that the health care reform effort is about controlling costs and expanding access the evidence from countries with socialized health care systems shows that the rising cost of government-run health care forces rationing.
In the end what government-run health care is really about is control … of your health care access of your health care options and eventually as you get older strong influence if not control over your end-of-life decisions.
Gary Palmer is president of the Alabama Policy Institute a non-partisan non-profit research and education organization dedicated to the preservation of free markets limited government and strong families which are indispensable to a prosperous society.
Essentially the whole health care public option" debate is about who controls health care and who makes the decisions about how it is used.
There are two things we all need to keep in mind about a public option. First the public option is really government-run government-financed and government-controlled health care. That is the government runs it pays for it and controls it.
But the most important thing to remember about the public option is that everyone in it will be dependent on the government for their health care and all the power over their health care decisions will lie with the government.
All the talk from Obama and the Democrats about reducing the cost of health care while expanding coverage is a smoke screen. If they truly wanted to reduce costs ideas such as the expansion of health savings accounts and tort reform would have been at the top of their to-do list. If they were serious about expanding access they would have immediately introduced legislation to de-couple health insurance benefits from employment and created a tax credit for the purchase of health care benefits.
A great deal of the talk has focused on how much America spends on health care but as author and columnist Mark Steyn has pointed out Americas health care spending is predominantly an individual decision with hundreds of millions of people making hundreds of millions of decisions about what they are going to spend on health care or on health insurance. In Canada where Mr. Steyn once lived the government does make those decisions. Unless of course the individual makes the decision to cross the border into the United States to pay for health care they cant get in Canada.
Moreover the Canadian health care system is in crisis. Dr. Anne Doig the incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) told doctors who had gathered for a conference in Saskatoon that they should all recognize that changes must be made in their health care system. In an interview with the Canadian Press Dr. Doig said We all agree that the system is imploding we all agree that things are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize."
The current president of the CMA Dr. Robert Ouellet agrees that the Canadian health care system needs to be restructured and … that competition should be welcomed not feared." The bottom line is that the Canadian universal health care system is on the verge of going broke and they are looking for ways to cut costs.
In addition an article in The Vancouver Sun reported that … patients needing neurosurgery treatment for vascular diseases and other medically necessary procedures can expect to wait longer for care."
According to a document from the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCHA) which oversees the budgets for hospitals and other health-care facilities over twenty-five percent of the operating rooms will have to be closed and 6250 surgeries cancelled to make up for a dramatic budget shortfall that could reach $200 million according to The Vancouver Sun. Dr. Brian Brodie the president of the British Columbia Medical Association called the proposed cancellation of surgeries a nightmare."
The paper reports that cuts would affect as many as 112 full-time jobs including 13 anesthesiologists. Moreover the reductions will affect more people than those whose surgeries are cancelled. Other reports indicate that outside contracts for mental health services and services to the elderly are also being cut and the number of MRI scans which will be provided will be limited to last years total which means some people will not be able to get the scans and those who can will have to wait longer.
Waiting for access to technology such as MRI machines and for surgical procedures is something Canadians have become accustomed to. Even before the current health care budget crisis there were almost 900000 Canadians awaiting care.
Keep in mind Canadas entire population is just over 33 million.
Despite what the liberal mis-informants continue to tell people that the health care reform effort is about controlling costs and expanding access the evidence from countries with socialized health care systems shows that the rising cost of government-run health care forces rationing.
In the end what government-run health care is really about is control … of your health care access of your health care options and eventually as you get older strong influence if not control over your end-of-life decisions.
Gary Palmer is president of the Alabama Policy Institute a non-partisan non-profit research and education organization dedicated to the preservation of free markets limited government and strong families which are indispensable to a prosperous society.
