Republicans and Health Care

FIRM is a non-partisan organization, and hence we are not supporters of either political party, nor any particular political candidate. And although Rudolph Guiliani makes some pretty good points in this recent opinion piece in the August 3, 2007 Boston Globe, others have taken issue with his statement that, "Most Republicans believe in expanding individual choice and decision-making."

In particular, the FreeMarketCure.com weblog notes:

Let's see: When the GOP was in charge of the Senate and the Oval Office, it passed COBRA and EMTALA, two major expansions of government regulation into health care. When the GOP controlled both house of Congress, it passed HIPAA, another big expansion of government regulation into health care, plus a new government health insurance program, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Now, Republicans like Orrin Hatch and Chuck Grassley are leading the charge for a big SCHIP expansion. Finally, Republican Senator Pete Domenici is pushing for a nationwide "mental health parity" benefit mandate, one that President Bush says he will sign if it passes.

"Most" Republicans believe in believe in expanding individual choice? Heck, I'd settle for half.

Although individual Republicans may vary, I don't see any principled opposition to socialized medicine coming from them as a party. For instance, I agree with the ideas expressed by former Colorado State Senator Mark Hillman in this piece. On the other hand, the health care proposals of high-profile Republicans such as Mitt Romney and Arnold Schwarzenegger are as bad as any that have come from Democrats such as Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.