What About Using Capitalism in Heathcare?

I have a premise born from the experiences we have learned from the Obama administration. With the last several months in mind, let's look at the likelihood of success of Obama's socialized heathcare plan based on the recent past.

From the get-go, I think we can assume that the elements of his heathcare plan will not work. After all, did the government bail-out of GM and Chrysler do what he said it would do? Has the stimulus plan stopped unemployment from reaching the levels he said it would? Have TARP funds helped the housing industry? In all cases, the answer is NO.

Let's assume that Obamacare will not work either. Let's look at some alternatives that take into consideration capitalism's point of view.

(Courtesy of The Heritage Foundation)

Undermining State Authority

"States have played a significant role in developing unique and innovative approaches to address the health care needs of their citizens. During the 08 campaign, then-candidate Obama promoted the idea of state flexibility, but as President he replaced this embrace of flexibility with an embrace of federal standards. Obama has already taken numerous steps to roll back many of the flexibilities extended to states in administering Medicaid and SCHIP."

Do you want to surrender your healthcare to a farther-away bureaucrat?

Solution: "... a patient-focused health care system will provide the highest quality and lowest cost when patients are able to choose among competing private plans. When patients can vote with their feet, insurance companies will be forced to deliver better quality care".

[Key word: competing]

Seniors Pay for It

"[A program]...should resist any efforts to undercut...competitive pricing for drugs that have yielded big savings for both seniors and taxpayers. Moreover, they should not impose a price-controlled regime for prescription drug coverage that limits access to a broad range of drugs available today".

[Key word: competitive] If you want it, it's available.

Unlevel Playing Field

"If Congress creates a public plan modeled on Medicare--as some have previously proposed--the result, of course, would be to undercut any pretense of a promised "level playing field" for competition with private health insurance. Public plan premiums would be 25-40 percent lower than private insurance premiums as the public plan would reimburse providers less than private payers would--and often less than the cost of care delivered".

[Key word: competition] Companies offering private plans will discontinue them if they avoid the cost by shifting workers to a public plan.

I could go on. The problem with Obama is that "competition" never enters his mind. Any alternatives that leverage free-market capitalism will accomplish results than could NEVER be achieved by government mandate, because government has NO competition.

I vote for increased capitalism in healthcare. It will solve the healthcare problem by rewarding the market-place with the best solutions, as long as government does not try to "level the playing field" and limit competition. Think Amtrak.