Schwartz on Non-Reform

The July 25, 2009 Boulder Daily Camera carried Brian Schwartz's piece on why the current proposed health care "reform" is anything but reform:

Paying for Health Care Reform

The Democrats' proposals would "reform" nothing. Instead, they would entrench problems with the status quo, as economist Arnold Kling explains in "The Non-Debate over Non-Reform."

Consider the country's total health care spending. Patients' out-of-pocket spending accounts for only about 10 percent. Insurers and government split the remaining 90 percent almost evenly. Since physicians, like anyone else, cater to who pays them, patients are left in the lurch. But Democrats ignore this problem.

Instead, they have been in bed with drug companies, Wal-mart, and hospital groups with plans to stick it to taxpayers. For details, see "A Closer Look at Those Industry Deals" at healthcare.cato.org.

Who should finance so-called "reform?" Translation: who should pay for other people's medical care? Anyone who volunteers, and no one who does not. Health care is not a right. Rights are freedoms of action, not entitlements to what others produce.

If you want to pay for other people's medical care, donate to or volunteer with a charity. Don't ask politicians to compel others to fund government charities, like Medicare and Medicaid. Forcing others to donate to charity is neither virtuous nor compassionate.

Hence, if Democrats want a "public plan," they shouldn't force taxpayers to pay for it.

Citizens do not earn money to fund politicians' pet projects. Politicians should pitch their great ideas to investors or philanthropists. Using tax dollars is just robbery cloaked in conceit and elitism.

Brian T. Schwartz

(His piece is the fourth one down.)