Be Careful What You Wish For

The following is a recent editorial from the Orange County Register:

Sunday, September 23, 2007
Today's editorial: On health care, beware what you wish for
Demagogues preying on natural fears have created a false sense of urgency for government-sponsored medical system.
An Orange County Register editorial

A recent poll informs us that nearly 70 percent of Californians believe the state's health care system needs major changes.

It's apparently such an urgent problem, say pollsters from the Public Policy Institute of California, that three fourths of those people are willing to buy into Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to heavily tax employers, health care providers and individuals to fix the perceived problem.

One might think health care is being denied these people. But virtually no one in California goes without health care. And, as syndicated columnist Mark Steyn notes on page 4 today, the vast majority who want health insurance have it, and it's generally paid for by someone else. So what's going on here?

There is a problem with the system. It's built on sand, as editorial writer Mark Landsbaum's page 1 column today explains. We shouldn't be surprised after decades of relying on others to pay our way, the institution of health care is teetering.

Private employers find it increasingly expensive to offer the full range of insurance coverage their employees expect, let alone to keep up with demands for new coverage for every conceivable medical treatment. Insurance usually is tied to employment, so when people lose jobs they lose insurance. Because insurers are forced to sell the full range of coverage, there's little leeway to tailor economical, a la carte packages beneficiaries might prefer. Hospital emergency rooms are closing because many who can't afford insurance use them as their family doctors. Fear of losing one's life savings is motive enough for most of us to cling desperately to a guarantee health insurance provides against financial devastation, should we develop a catastrophic illness.

It's a scenario ripe for demagoguery. There's no shortage of those ready to exploit, from Gov. Schwarzenegger to Hillary Clinton (as the Cato Institute's Michael Cannon and Michael Tanner explain on page 1 today). The growing sense of urgency works to the advantage of those sounding the "government to the rescue" bugle call.

But if there's anything Californians, indeed Americans, should avoid, it's being stampeded into more government control over your health care. Rather than turn over your health care, insurance protection and personal choices to faceless, unaccountable government bureaucrats, now's the time to demand that bureaucracy begin releasing its grip on the system.

It's taken more than a half century to pervert the health care free market. The mess won't be cleaned up overnight. But to rush into even more of what corrupted the system will move us even farther in the wrong direction. A reasoned, systematic loosening of government's grip can prevent disaster. Now's a good time to begin.

Government should revoke all mandates limiting insurers' flexibility to meet market demand, and in that way greatly reduce costs. Insurance should be portable, rather than provided through employers, particularly when people change jobs an average of 10 times between the ages 18 and 38. Without government interference, people could shop for catastrophic coverage, if that's all they want, rather than pay top dollar for broad coverage with low-deductibles.

There will be challenges even the free market will struggle with, such as expensive, high-risk coverage for people with pre-existing, bad health. But once the market straightens out for the bulk of us, such issues can be dealt with more effectively and economically. Insurers and health care providers, out from under the costly, oppressive regulation of government, could very well find it in their own interest to create insurance pools for high-risk patients. Especially if doing it voluntarily keeps the government out. We urge everyone concerned with the teetering institution of health care to urge their elected representatives to turn away from more government, and toward more freedom.


John Pack
Low Cost Health Insurance