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Before a group of about two dozen people at the Constitution Association monthly meeting, Sean Flynn, associate professor of economics at Claremont College, made a presentation regarding the state of health care in America. In his presentation, he discussed other systems in the past, and in the world, placing a special emphasis on how the "free market principles" of the system in Singapore has been working wonderfully.
After the presentation, the attendees were not sold on Singapore, especially since the system contains a number of government imposed mandates. While the Singapore system has integrated some free market principles into their healthcare programs, the element of totalitarianism included was difficult to ignore. It is sort of like adding a little bit of capitalism to China's communist economy, and then hailing the temporary economic growth as a model we need to somehow chase. Despite the few capitalistic principles mixed into China's economy, it is still a communist country, and the command and control part of the system will eventually destroy any advances made as a result of the small injection of free market principles.
The participants in the meeting stated that only a patient/provider system without a third party payer like insurance or the government can work in the United States. Flynn agreed with them that a purely free market system without anything coming between the doctors and their patients was the most ideal system, but he said he didn't believe returning to that dynamic as being remotely possible.
It took us two hundred and forty years to get where we are. The U.S. Constitution's original intent has been purposely twisted and replaced by a never-ending web of case law, and the free market system is sick from the disease of government intrusion and corporate collusion with government. Unfortunately, we cannot flip a switch and automatically return to the system of our Founding Fathers. It will take a long, drawn out journey, with steps in between that may not be exactly what we want, to get us even remotely to the place we desire. However, despite falling short, it would be a step in the right direction, nonetheless.
While I do not believe the healthcare system in Singapore is the answer to America's health care problem, it is important that we have discussions regarding the various components of other systems that may help us craft our own system after we finally repeal the disaster known as Obamacare. That is why I invited Mr. Flynn to speak at the Constitution Association meeting, in the first place.
That is how the U.S. Constitution was crafted. It is a "mixed constitution," taking elements of various systems and piecing them together into our republican style of government. We are not a pure democracy, yet we have democratic processes in our system. We are not a monarchy, but we have a single executive at the head of our government. We are not an oligarchy, but we have a number of officials serving as our representatives. We are not a parliamentary system, but we have a bicameral congress. We are not a utopianist system, but we promote people doing their own individual thing for the benefit of the community.
During our journey back to a truly free market health care system, it doesn't hurt to hear about, and maybe implement elements of, things like healthcare savings accounts, special funding for exceptional cases, tort reform, or price tags for all medical services (as they provide in Singapore).
Constitutionally, we must remember that the federal government has no granted express authorities regarding health care or health insurance (and the misinterpretation of the Commerce Clause does not grant that power, despite the rantings of the liberal left), therefore, what should be happening is a full repeal of Obamacare, and the repeal of any federal laws restricting the health insurance industry. The law, for example, not allowing insurance companies to sell across State lines, is unconstitutional and must be eliminated.
Once the federal government is totally out of the system, the States may, if they believe it to be necessary, establish their own rules or laws concerning the industry. Yes, I realize some States, like California, are working towards communist socialized medicine. The States as independent and sovereign States are allowed to act as laboratories. Let California do it. When the State collapses due to the heavy costs, and from the loss of taxpayers as the producers flee from the State, it will serve as a lesson to the other States that such a system is a disaster. That lesson could not be learned if the same disaster of centrally controlled government insurance and healthcare is committed on a federal scale, because then there would be a full countrywide collapse that would be impossible to recover from.
The perfect system is minimal insurance. Let catastrophic policies exist if someone so desires to have such a policy, but don't make them mandatory. That has to be the choice of the consumer. If people don't want any kind of insurance at all, that should be their choice. If there are those cases where, for example, a child has a horrendous condition that the parents cannot afford to pay the care regarding, fine, let a State's safety net, or charity, or the churches step in. That's fine. But, it is none of the federal government's business. The federal government was created to handle external issues, and the security of the union. Let them do their job, and disallow federal intrusion into the health industry in the first place. . . as originally intended.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Amen!
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