Set Healthcare Free

There has been considerable news pertaining to healthcare in the US and understandably so given: 

1. The amount the industry contributes to GDP and 
2. Needless to say, the recent and ongoing myriad of challenges associated with the ACA (aka Obamacare). 

It should not be a surprise to many of my readers that I claim that we are to blame for this mess - because we elected the politicians that run the dysfunctional Federal government we now have.

Our political system aside, the real problem is not the broken Federal website nor the lack of responsibility or accountability taken by our President; these are just minor annoyances when looked at in the proper perspective.  The problem is the lack of competition in the healthcare industry.  I like the concept of exchanges (as fiscal conservatives did years ago) because exchanges when designed properly help foster competition; however, as I understand it, the ACA seeks to drive us towards a single payer system through government regulations that dictate how the current exchanges should work (via such means as the “bellybutton tax”).  These regulations instead diminish competition. 

Competition leads to innovation and lower prices.  We need not look far, just look at the IT industry and the consumer products we use.  However, this innovation and lower prices comes at a cost.  One such cost is that companies that failed to innovate go out of business and people lose their jobs, but many new companies and jobs are created in the process. Surely there are other drawbacks; nothing is perfect, but I believe in the free market system and I advocate so should you.

We should unchain our healthcare system from constraining and market limiting regulations to set it free to drive innovation; however, for this to occur, we need to contact our politicians in Washington to let them know what we want. I call them regularly, do you?

Have You Called Your Representative Today?

Have you ever become frustrated with our government and elected officials?  If you are like me then you have at some point in time in your life.  If you have become frustrated then how did you respond?  Did you let it pass? Did you complain to others? Did you call the elected official(s) that acted in a way that frustrated you? If you responded by complaining to others and not calling the responsible official(s) then did you not just waste your own time and more importantly, that of others?  

I asked these questions because I reached out today to Senator Reid and Speaker Boehner after reading a Forbes news report that they purportedly looked to exempt members of Congress and their staff from provisions of the Affordable Healthcare Act. Both offices acknowledge the news report, but there seems be a little bit of difference in opinion as to what truly took place that led to the news report. Per Senator Reid’s office, the Senator “supports all the benefits” of the act whereas per the Speaker’s office, the Speaker seeks to repeal the act.  Both elected officials stated these same assertions yesterday immediately after the release of the news report per each respective staff representative. 

It is now obvious that after making my calls that others had acted much quicker, which I attribute to the issue. However, there are many other issues being debated upon that are not as high profile. We cannot assume that others will act on our behalf - & without our input. If ‘others’ had acted appropriately then I suggest that we would not be in the mess we are in today.

We most take responsibility for our government by participating more frequently than the first Tuesday of November either other year. Calling to complain is a possible first step.  Another step could be calling to state how the elected representative should vote based on sound reasoning on an upcoming piece of legislation. There are many things we can do, but in general we need to encourage each other to participate in our government beyond just the voting booth. 

We Need You

Given the size of our U.S. Federal government, I wonder as others may what role our government should have in our lives.  Per the U.S. Constitution it was determined at the time that the role should be "to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence (sic), promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity..." 

Obviously, the role of government has expanded over time since the Constitution was written. Arguably, the role of government today is vastly different than what the framers intended. I attribute this outcome to human behavior, which I think the framers of the Constitution did not fully comprehend and or understand.

As I stated before, humans are greedy, impatient and lazy and have been many, many millennium. In this particular situation these traits have led to a vast majority participating only on the first Tuesday of November every other year (because we are arguably lazy).  As a consequence of this behavior, I argue that very few participate, which is not good and has led to the current state of affairs.

As Thomas Jefferson noted, “We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.” As I see it, those that participate most effectively are those that can afford the lobbyists that have the face-time with their (I mean, our) representatives. Therefore, if we do not like our government then we need to participate --- almost daily---to bring this beast of a government to heel.  We must remind the office holders that they are not owners, but agents; that we are aware of their actions, just as a store owner watches the register and hired staff. 

The only politician that we can most likely trust is the one that we the individual helped elect through sweat equity, not the one with the most donations.  We need citizen candidates/elected representatives, not a life-long career politician that rose up through the ranks (from local to state to federal) as they would in a corporation.

It took years to find ourselves in this mess.  Correspondingly, it will take years to solve. It also requires us working together, but to do so means, we need you to participate more than just the first Tuesday in the month of November every other year. We need you.

No Easy Answer

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves”, Shakespeare. I believe no truer words have been spoken in such an eloquent fashion about human behavior. I think these words are very appropriate to explain the challenges we encounter in our nation and worldwide. These words also incorporate what I consider the number one of all natural laws, the law of cause and effect.

There have been recent headline grabbing events, which are essentially ‘effects’ that have subsequently induced (i.e. caused) our nation to ponder and reflect upon the possible ‘causes’ to these events. I think the one event that has had the most impact near-term has been the Newtown shooting.

While the shooter is dead, some (at least I) wonder whether we in someway helped contribute to the outcome.  I believe we did to a small degree by action, inaction and/or both. 

I do not believe arming teachers (or everyone) is the answer as the NRA does because such a position effectively implies that we do not have the mental capacity to solve our problems, that we must instead raise arms.  Near-term maybe so, but long-term, NO; as Mahatma Gandhi stated, "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

Arguably, it is a lack of thinking to the possible effects from our societal behavior (such as our infatuation with violence – we need not look far past the TV or other mass media) that has helped lead to a rise in mass shootings.  Lack of mental healthcare is another.  Yes, proliferation of guns does not help, but it is not the guns, but "ourselves." Sadly, I expect such violence to continue because we did not arrive here overnight. I also think increased governmental control and oversight will not change it much, except to reduce our freedoms.  Serious change comes from us deciding to change that of which we value.