Land of the Free and Home of the Sick

As far as I can see, the U.S. Constitution contains no endowment or recognition of a right to receive health care. This is, and always has been, largely a private sector matter in the U.S. It may sound callous, but health care is in the same boat as legal services—you get what you can afford to buy.

Public expectations have changed over time; health insurance was once viewed as a safety net against life’s major and unexpected health challenges. Everyone expected to pay for their routine health care from their own pocket. Over time, we have become addicted to on-demand, professional care for every runny nose. To make matters worse, we hold that professional care to a high standard of performance and punish malpractice with enormous financial penalties, which must all be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices. I think these are the root causes for the current state of our health care industry and policies.

As we approach what seems to be some form of universal health care administered by government, I am wary. I have zero problems helping pay for the care of someone who contracts as serious disease despite never having engaged in any behaviors known to cause that disease, or someone seriously injured in an accident through no fault of their own. I do have a problem helping to pay for the liver transplant of the alcoholic who is going to go right back to drinking himself to death or the life-long smoker who needs a lung transplant.

Increasing governmental involvement in health care opens the door for that government to begin trying to protect us from ourselves. I, for one, want less government in my life, not more. I prefer to take responsibility for my own actions and provide, in one way or another, for my own health care.