The Real Path to Effective Health Care Reform

Daniel,

I am a conservative with a question. Can you explain to me the detriment that universal health care would present to us as a country. My question comes on the heels of the documentary "Sicko". I am willing to admit that it is just a movie from a man with an agenda. However Mr. Moore does, in my opinion, bring up some good points. Particularly with the health care/taxes that Parisians experience. I understand that this is a very complicated question. An email with extreme brevity would be understandable and appreciated.

Thanks

Travis Chandler
Plano, Texas


Travis,

Let me respond to your question with three points:

1. If you are truly a Conservative, as you have said, then you will agree most things that grow government are bad for our country. The government should definitely not be involved when people make decisions about their health and how to care for it. That is a decision to be made between a doctor and a patient. Its as simple as that.

2. We cannot afford it. Our national debt continues to balloon and if we don't reign in spending, we will in real trouble fiscally. There will be no choice but for government to raise taxes on the middle class, not to mention the buying power of our American dollar will continue to weaken.

3. A government takeover of health care will prevent the REAL reforms that we really do need!

(Once again, a list of three)

1. We need to offer a tax credit to Americans who maintain healthy lifestyles (an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure)

2. We need interstate competition in the insurance markets, this will bring down cost and make insurance affordable for even more Americans (if they choose to buy it).

3. We need tort reform. Capping damages on medical liability suits would prevent the excessive prescriptions and procedures being promoted by docs today, because they would not be constantly under the threat of multi-million dollar suits, not to mention it would reduce the amount of insurance they would have to buy, the cost of which is ultimately passed to the consumer.

Thanks for the question, Travis. Conservatives have the best solutions to the health care situation and nationalizing the whole system is definitely not the answer. It will be too expensive, it will have major costs in terms of the quality of care provided, and ultimately it will not even solve any of our problems. Conservative solutions (like the three I just gave you) will.
I hope I was able to answer your question successfully and I hope you agree.

Cheers,
Daniel Dyas