Scrap the whole healthcare thing and start over

August 24, 1:33 PMColumbia Conservative ExaminerAnthony G. Martin

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Sources on Capitol Hill have hinted at several 'compromise proposals' on the multi-trillion dollar government takeover of healthcare as mandated by Barack Obama.

Let me be as clear as I can be at the outset:  each of these compromise plans are totally unacceptable.

Even without the 'public option' of a government-owned healthcare insurance company that will compete with private insurers, the rest of the bill contains all of the provisions necessary for government to dominate the U.S. healthcare system, including rationing of care, control of doctors' decisions and salaries, control of hospitals. and providing care to 20 million illegal aliens on the backs of senior adults who will bear the brunt of a 500 billion dollar cut in Medicare benefits in order to pay for it.

The citizens MUST not allow sleazy, lying politicians to fool them into believing that 'compromise' measures will correct any of this.  The entire idea of 'healthcare reform' as proposed by Obama and the Democrats presupposes government control and must be scraped in its entirety.  We need to start over with an entirely new perspective--one that is consistent with American ideals of freedom, individual responsibility, and free-market economics.

With this goal in mind I have devised 'the Martin plan for optimum healthcare.'  The Martin plan is not entirely original with me but a compilation of several free-market solutions to some of the glitches in our present system.  Those glitches can be corrected without dismantling the best and most advanced healthcare system in the world.

First, the goal should not be mandated coverage for every single citizen but a plan that entices those without coverage to purchase their own healthcare plans.  Thus, I would propose a tax credit to all uninsured American citizens equal to the amount of the cost of their health insurance.  If you buy insurance you get to deduct the cost of it from your taxes, off the top.

Second, insurers should not be forced to cover preexisting conditions but rewarded if they do so by giving them a corporate tax break.  Those private insurers that choose to insure persons with preexisting conditions would be given significant tax breaks for doing so.  Nothing would entice a private business to offer something that is expensive quite like a significant tax break from the government, which already over-taxes corporations like no other advanced nation on earth.

Third, competition will keep the costs of health insurance down.  Presently we have very little competition due to federal prohibitions on citizens purchasing insurance across state lines.  This should be changed immediately.  A citizen living in Florida should be able to purchase insurance from a company in Alaska if that company offers the best plan for the best rates.  I can guarantee you this would drastically lower the costs of health insurance.

Fourth, tort reform is sorely needed that will cap the amount of money a jury can award a plaintiff in lawsuits against medical providers.  In some medical specialties doctors have to pay $200,000 per year in malpractice insurance just to protect themselves from often frivolous lawsuits and the astronomical and unfair monetary awards juries often give to plaintiffs.

These simple, sensible corrections could be approved by Congress easily in September and implemented immediately, for immediate relief, without causing a major disruption to our society.  No one would be forced by a government mandate to do anything.  Incentives rather than mandates would be in place to make it profitable for both uninsured citizens and their healthcare providers to implement these measures.  Thus, everybody wins.  A win/win scenario beats a win/lose proposition every time.

The only loser here would be big government.  With the tax breaks to individuals and corporations, government would be forced to live within its means--something we have not seen in this country in many years.  But if the citizens must live within their means, we should demand that government live within its means. 

But even then, government would probably benefit from the extra tax revenue it would receive from companies doing more business.

If Barack Obama wants 'heathcare reform,' then we, the citizens, need to let him know that the ONLY kind of reform we will tolerate is the plan described above.  And don't let him continue to spout the blatant lie that 'the opposition has no alternative plan.'

For more commentary on other issues, visit my blog at The Liberty Sphere.