Another health care letter to the editor of the Chillicothe Gazette:
The AP had a story on Friday, July 17, with a headline of “House Bill Would Make Health Care a Right”. Many in this community may believe health care is a “right”. Health care is important, even critical in some situations. An acquaintance of mine tells a story about “Kevin” who suffered permanent heart damage because he was worried about the cost of health care and did not go to the hospital emergency room until it was almost too late.

That is my worry about making health care a “right”. By the time we realize all of the problems the proposed legislation in front of the Congress causes to our economy, the damage to our country may very well be permanent and irreversible. Look at the state of Ohio’s budget (or California…). Medicare and Medicaid are eating up so much of the budget that libraries (isn’t knowledge a right?), education (a right in our state constitution guaranteed to all children), transportation, public safety and various other programs are being cut to feed the “health care monster”. Governors, in both parties, oppose this legislation

The administration assures us this will solve our health care problems and insure the “50 million uninsured”. Isn’t this the same administration that assured us, if the Congress passed the stimulus program (emergency – do it right away or it will be a “catastrophe”!) that unemployment wouldn’t go above 8%? The same administration that said, months ago, that the stimulus program was “already working”? The administration that claims, if we don’t spend billions or trillions of dollars, right away, that climate change will end life as we know it? Haven’t we heard this song before? Why is everything always an emergency such that no one gets to read the bills before Congress passes them?

By the way, of that “50 million uninsured”, how many are citizens? I have a Christian desire to help the downtrodden, no matter where they live or to whom they pledge allegiance, but, as a US citizen, I really don’t want to cover any and all persons here illegally with my tax dollars. In addition, how many are young folks who could pay but choose not to? How many are temporarily without insurance because they are unemployed?

Food is a basic human need, as is shelter and clean water. The government, however, does not guarantee everyone the same food, shelter or water. They make services available to the poor (WIC, food stamps, section 8 housing, vouchers for heating assistance), but do not mandate that everyone eat the same food, live in the same kind of house, or pay the same bill for water.

What if we all had to pay a tax so that everyone could have a car? After all, in today’s society, you HAVE to have a car to get a job. It’s a necessity, so why shouldn’t everyone be given one by the government? The dream is that everyone would get a new Cadillac. The reality, however, is that we would all be driving used Yugos after a while. It’s just economics…

Let’s improve health care access for the deserving poor, the unemployed, the family beset by unexpected emergencies. Let’s not cripple the economy, though, by putting into law that health care is a “right” and forcing every man and woman into a system that takes away freedom and incentive, and replaces it with government mandates and rationing. Call your Senators and your Representative and STOP this dramatic restructuring of health care before the damage is permanent and crippling our economy.