BeaconBeacon
Opinion

The current health care bill pushes the extremes in lawmaking. It is one of the finest examples of confusing and injudicious legislation ever issued from Congress. Democrats are ignoring the truth and the wishes of the American people in order to add health care to their list of what is politically necessary. If the health care bill passes, the Obama administration will turn our currently envied American health care system into a social crisis defined by rationing, waiting, exorbitant costs, and sub-standard care.

Republicans are arguing for a well thought-out law that offers simple and affordable solutions with less government control. Some solutions include: opening up the market for the buying and the selling of coverage across state lines. This would cause competition, lowering costs for everyone. Through implementation of tort reform, we would lessen the instances of frivolous medical malpractice suits being brought to court, lowering costs even more. When we lower costs, doctors then can lower their prices and everyone pays less—more people will be able to afford care.

President Obama has made mention of state-to-state competition and tort reform, but has dismissed these options in favor of the current bill which imposes significantly larger reform. The administration wants to lower costs and cover everyone. But it is economically impossible to do both. Either they cover everyone—costing us (the taxpayer) billions. Or, they can lower costs by halfway covering everyone.

There is an inherent problem within the structure of the current law, and all indications are that this bill will significantly reduce our personal freedom. The government knows nothing about you and me, including our medical history. But they want to—meaning the government wants to control which doctors we see, when we get to see them and what procedures we are eligible for. The government and bureaucracy see things in numbers and it is cheaper to make you take a pain medication than to receive surgery. For example, should someone who is nearing the end of his/her life need an expensive treatment? The government sees this as a pointless expense since the older patient is going to die eventually anyway. As Christians, we have a responsibility to care for life, not throw it away or treat it as insignificant. But this is what the government is asking us to do.

Earlier this summer, Democrats kept crying out that the immediate passage of a healthcare reform bill was in the best interests of the American people (even though any bill Congress passes will not take effect for several years). Democrats see this current health care bill as the right prescription for this country, but it is so extreme that, in reality, it is an overdose of reform—another drug meant to numb our senses. But the American people are beginning to wake up from this stupor. We are beginning to see that we are more addicted to massive government reform than ever before.