Issues

For the vast majority of Americans, healthcare isn't in crisis. It has problems and we need to make changes. Today's Healthcare system isn't bankrupting America. But, the Obamacare bill will. If Congressional Democrats seize government control over one-sixth of the economy and raise taxes as the bill proposes, they will kill jobs and reduce the quality of healthcare for many millions of Americans - especially Seniors and the poor. All because of the socialist idea that government provided healthcare is an individual right.

Healthcare isn't in the Constitution. Healthcare isn't an individual right. Healthcare is a service. The pursuit of happiness is a God-given right for each person. The pursuit of happiness includes purchasing healthcare services as an individual responsibility. We also enjoy the right to property but that doesn't mean government buys everyone property. The only nation-wide crisis in healthcare is the Constitutional issue of government takeover of healthcare. For political leaders, following the Constitution or choosing "get along to go along" politics as usual is the real crisis of conscience. So, what must be done?

At the Federal Level:

· Defeat the Obamacare bills. Everything must be done to stop 2,000 pages of particulars from becoming another burden to our economy, new taxes, less and worse health services and the precedent for future attacks on individual liberty. If the Democrats succeed in passing their healthcare "reforms", a new Congress must be elected to repeal the wrongs imposed on the states and the People.

· Pass federal legislation to open up competition. Allow health insurance companies to compete in every state. States can still regulate insurance, just not ban companies.

Here in Virginia

· Protect Virginians from Federal Mandates. Passing HB 10 (clink for link to current status) will protect Virginians from the abuse of Federal power if Obamacare, or any other bad healthcare bills, become law. The Virginia Senate has already passed legislation making it illegal to require individuals to purchase healthcare insurance, and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is prepared to defend that law and principle under the 10^th Amendment.

· Promote Individual Health Savings Accounts for all Virginians. Establishing refundable tax credits for individuals buying their own insurance and/or providing health insurance for others is one way to help. Use it or lose it provisions in flexible spending accounts must be eliminated, allowing balances to carry over from year to year.

· Expand the supply of health services. Remove restrictions on competition among health service providers. Streamline regulatory oversight of health services to provide safety, not barriers to new business.

· Increase competition between Insurance companies. Establish Insurance reciprocity with other states that reasonably regulated Insurance companies in a manner similar to Virginia's Bureau of Insurance.

· Pass more tort reform. Limit the lottery-like awards lawyers can claim in civil suits to actual, fair, and just compensation for real victims. Allow winning defendants to recoup some of their expenses from the attacking legal firms. Punitive damages should be paid to the state or locality where the suit is filed, not to the plaintiff.

· Reduce government mandates for specific healthcare coverage. Market competition will drive Insurance companies to provide coverage people want and can afford.

· Limit Insurance companies to paying for treatment, not directing it. Let physicians and patients decide on treatments, based on recognized medical necessity. Tort reform will decreases 'unnecessary' procedures.

· Restrict Insurance companies' ability to drop customers. Dropping customers should be limited to cases of intentional fraud; establish a "statute of limitations" of 5 years for dropping a customer due to a undisclosed material fact.

· Promote healthcare by private charities in part by giving tax incentives to health professions that donated their services.

Finally, let us all, as individual citizens and sovereigns of Virginia and the U.S.A., consider the moral-ethical implications of healthcare.

Who should make decisions about individual healthcare services? The people: you and me as individuals, as members of families. People are responsible for their own health, seeking healthcare services and taking treatments and medicines. The Constitution guarantees a right to private property - that does not mean the government buys private property for everyone, but rather that the rights of ownership are protected. In the same way a right to healthcare should mean people have a right to choose their own care/doctor, choose to buy insurance, (or not) and chose how to alter their own habits and lifestyle to improve their own health.

In the same way that people choose which house or car to purchase based on many factors, they should also choose and pay for their own healthcare.

How can everyone afford to pay the high costs of healthcare services? Costs of health care can be reduced by increasing supply and free market forces. One problem with the third party system which has evolved is that few people know what various medical treatments and procedures costs. Defensive medicine leads to unnecessary extra costs. The Government can provide tax credits and cuts for people who donate financially or for medical professionals who donate their time in free clinics. There are many other ways to provide for the health care needs of those that truly can't afford insurance, without nationalizing one-sixth of the economy.