The Wall Street Journal-20080111-The Toll Road to Mandated Health Insurance
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The Toll Road to Mandated Health Insurance
Robert Reich's op-ed "The Road to Universal Coverage" (Jan. 9), suggests continued wishful thinking or dreaming by him and the Democratic Party. The candidates talk about achieving "affordable health care." Whatever "affordable" is, it won't be achieved by mandates. If it can be achieved, it will begin to occur only when Americans assume more individual responsibility for the cost of their care. I have been practicing emergency medicine for more than 30 years, and those patients who are concerned about whether I do some test or procedure for them are those who have some direct financial consequence -- that is, they must pay the bill themselves. As long as "someone else" pays, cost is seemingly not an issue.
Prof. Reich asserts that "They aim to save money through more preventive care, better management of chronic disease, and standardized information technology." Where are a major portion of Medicare dollars spent? It is in the last few months of life as we continually expend unlimited resources interfering with the dying process and death with dignity. When the American people examine and accept this rationale, legal threats from not providing heroic care will diminish, the pressure to do everything to preserve "life" at any cost, however futile it is, will diminish and so will health-care costs.
Finally, Prof. Reich also notes that "The major Democratic plans . . . rely on the same source of general revenue, derived from allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire." But the Bush tax cuts have promoted an economy that has nearly doubled the federal tax revenue. Raising taxes will likely result in a slowing economy and tax revenue.
Richard Stennes, M.D.
La Jolla, Calif.
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Prof. Reich mentions the issue of mandates and their role in providing "universal health care." Mandates would force Americans to buy insurance, regardless of its quality, cost or whether they need insurance in the first place. Mandates destroy the market, raise prices and limit consumer choice. In addition, the so-called "option" of government-run health care would drive out private insurers who actually have to compete for customers, leaving consumers with one choice: the government. People will not have the option of keeping the care they want, because it won't exist.
Good intentions aside, mandates mean higher prices and fewer choices for Americans, and do not solve the problems facing health care today. Most people think health care needs reform, and yet some of them suggest forcing dissatisfied consumers to buy a bad product. This makes no sense.
Consumers should have a choice of whether they want insurance and decide for themselves which plan best fits their needs. The high cost of health insurance is a direct result of too much government involvement and "solutions" like mandates.
Kate Campaigne
Legislative Specialist
Health and Welfare
The Heartland Institute
Chicago
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Is Prof. Reich incapable of factoring in the free-market economy or understanding why he should?
Stephen B. Waters
Rome, N.Y.
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Employer mandates to provide health insurance to their employees: Who are politicians talking about? Do they really want or expect voters to think of employers as nameless, faceless organizations that can do anything they are told to do? Well, I am not nameless nor faceless! I am one of millions of small-business owners nationwide who often struggle just to keep our doors open, who use our home equity credit lines, personal savings or deferral of our own paychecks so that our "businesses" can pay bills and meet payrolls during tough times. My industry has been in a recession for the past two years, and while we managed to stay in the black, barely, several of our competitors have closed up or sold out. There is nothing "extra" in the till for the additional cost of employee health insurance.
So while I agree that health-care reform is the most important issue in this election cycle, mandating the purchase of insurance contracts will do nothing but force people like me to shutter our businesses.
Klaus Illian
Manchester, Mo.
