Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Welcome to the Nanny State of America

"We are Americans and we have a right to disagree with any administration."

--Hillary Rodham Clinton, former First Lady

Thanks, Mrs. Clinton; I do. Disagree.
Funny how each party’s words are baked, fried, skewered, and re-served for crow-eating sessions by the opposition.
I vehemently disagree with the direction this Administration is taking our country, particularly with this week’s signing of the healthcare overhaul many see has a keel-hauling of American society.

Welcome to The Nanny State of America, land of the un-free to chose, and home of the knaves who now must work not only to put food on the table, but also see a larger share of income “appropriated” so that others may suckle from the government teat.

Does the American Healthcare System need to be reformed? No.
There’s always room for improvement, but our level of medical technology is the envy of the rest of the world, perhaps with the exception of the tedious process of getting modalities and procedures approved for use here. The only reason people leave the US for healthcare is to save money, or access care not "approved" for use here.

Does the American system of Healthcare Insurance need fixing? Absolutely. Rancid with fraud, inefficiencies and opacity, insurance scams and draconian practices that stack the deck against patients and policy holders with legitimate claims, Healthcare Insurance and the medical delivery complex it feeds would by any other name be known as extortion and economic rape and pillage.
(Apologies to my English Comp teachers for that longish sentence; William Faulkner, however, is somewhere grinning ear-to-ear.)

There are two, parallel story lines playing out before our eyes.
The small story is how “fixing” healthcare insurance went badly wrong. The bigger story is how personal liberties and a fundament right—freedom of choice—has been lost, purportedly for the sake of another “right,” which has been falsely ascribed as the right to healthcare. I missed that constitutional amendment in my civics classes.

Do we have Americans in need of affordable healthcare? Yes.
Should we be giving up personal liberties so that a fraction of the population can wait in line with the rest of society for a check up? Nossir.

Did anyone in Washington give a moment’s thought as to how shifting much of the financial responsibility for administering this mess onto State budgets would impact regional economies? Apparently not.
In anticipation of a wave of newly-mandated forced-patients, healthcare provider corporation stocks and pharmaceutical company shares enjoyed a marginal pop on Wall Street.

Enjoy it while you can—because as the rolls of insured’s swell the liabilities of insurance providers past the revenues they’re able to earn under these new rules forcing coverage for all, this will soon be one nation, underfunded, with misery and illness for all.

No comments: