By Jess Jones

For most of us, this whole health care issue has been a tough one to swallow. It’s a peculiar topic because, as a conservative, taking a stand creates a lose-lose situation: either you’re branded an elitist pig for denying the destitute of their health care, or you are a part of a socialist agenda bent on depriving all Americans of freedom and liberty. If you ask me, there is some room for analysis that could be beneficial to solving the issue.

If you’re not a political junkie and have been more preoccupied getting a tan or being outside in mother nature, you may not be completely up to date on the whole issue. Short and sweet, to help make health care more available to all Americans, our dear President “Doctor” Barack Obama is pushing legislators to create a bill that outlines a public option provided by the federal government for low-income families to receive the medical care that they need. To cover the costs, legislators not only plan on requiring that employers pay a fee of $375 to $700 for part- to full-time employees that otherwise would be uninsured. The goal of this bill is to provide more competition amongst insurance brokers, ensure quality care and lower medical costs for Americans.

Well gosh, that sounds great! If we were at a fast food restaurant, I’d order it with a side of world peace and a large warhead reduction to go. Sadly, Wendy’s doesn’t have that on the dollar menu, so we’re stuck wondering how that all is possible. The truth is that in order to make such a policy work you need to do several things. First, you need to accept the fact that federal government belongs in the marketplace as a competitor (which they don’t and should never be). Second, you need to find a way to finance this plan because, let’s face it, there is no way you’ll be able to fund a “public option” with just an annual premium of at least $375 per year for every employee. Someone will have to foot the rest of the bill. Lastly, you’ll need to assume the only reason prices are going sky high is because wealthy doctors and insurance brokers are willing and able to hurt the little guy.

Before you run out into the streets and tell your liberal neighbors, “Ha! I told you socialized health care is flawed,” hold on. We need to talk a bit more about this (unfortunately). The vice of politics and debate is everyone thinks they themselves are right and everyone else with a different opinion is either ignorant or apostate. The truth is in order to garner support or sway opinion concerning this or any issue is by presenting your opinions well.

Government itself is a protector and preventer, not a competitor. Government protects freedom, including the freedom to participate in the market. Granted there are caveats to entering a market, but when it becomes impossible for other competitors to enter the market, adjustments to the system need to be made. However, that in no way gives the federal government the right to enter the private sector, with its bottomless coffers of tax money to subsidize their participation.

There are certain things that must be addressed before we merely say prices are too high and the Joe Plumbers are falling between the cracks (no pun intended). Insurance prices are a result of two things. First are the costs of tests and medical examinations. If you think just because the equipment is shinier and doctors are wanting a second summer that prices are higher, guess again. I have two words for you: malpractice liability. What you may not know is Obama recently declared he would give no protection to doctors who have been found guilty of the least bit of malpractice. So what does that mean? That means Doc Holliday is going to have to run as many tests as he can, so he can cover his bases and his own malpractice insurance costs. This in and of itself drives prices up.

Second, why do you not always go through your insurance to claim damages? It is because your premium goes up. The prices of health care and other insurance have always acted as an incentive for the insured to prudently decide when it’s worth going to the doctor. If you take away that cost factor, you’ll see a flood of low-income workers on the public option inundating the local clinics with complaints of sore throats and “chronic” ailments. The system will just get tied down more and more with petty cases.
 

But more importantly is the impact the plan will have on small businesses. If forced to pay not only premiums but more taxes to help fund the program, a majority of these businesses will either cut back on their hiring or close their doors all together. The truth is we cannot burden the lifeblood of our economy (aka small businesses) any more. If you’d like to see an improved offering of health insurance coverage, provide tax credits to the companies that do provide such insurance. Thereby, the government will not be forcing extra taxes to pay for added benefits but will instead create incentive for business to jump on board and offer these benefits to their employees.
A public plan on its own seems to be a negative investment that will not only require heavier tax burdens on our already burdened businesses, but it will potentially spark an increase in the percentage of Americans unemployed. There are other causes that are underlying the high prices of health care and should be addressed first. The public option seems to be a bad prescription, but you can be the doctor in this case.