At a recent townhall meeting in South Carolina, one man told Congressman Bob Ingliss to “keep his government hands off of his medicare.” Further, news of some racist graffiti in Georgia at Congressman David Scott’s office gave Statists cause to doubt the credibility of healthcare reform opposition. In this trying time in our nation’s legislative decisions, we, as lovers of liberty, must stay on point. We must not fool others into thinking that these exceptions are a part of the status quo. Staying on point at Town Hall Meetings, blogs and other forms of social networking are essential to achieving the health care reforms that we want. Here are a few things to understand:
- The bill, as it currently stands, will cost taxpayers more money. The Congressional Budget Office, probably one of the most reliable sources for policy analysis, has continuously stated that this plan will severely increase the cost to taxpayers.
- There is already too much regulation on healthcare within the United States. Statists argue that regulation and government control, even in small increments, offers more efficient and equal care for all. Unfortunately for them, this is not the case. Already, individual health insurance plans are taxed at a much higher level than employee benefit plans. This regulation, recently lifted in Georgia, should also be lifted on a Federal level.
- The 46 million uninsured we hear so much about are not dying without health insurance. In fact, in Georgia, 34% of those who are uninsured live in households with an income of $50,000 or more. Further, 20% are already eligible for medicare of Medicaid and have neglected to obtain it. That leaves about 46% of Georgians without insurance that do not make $50,000 or more and are not eligible for current government programs. Interestingly, 62% of the uninsured are under the age of 34, requiring little medical care as is. 19% are not citizens of the United States and most shockingly, 71% only remain uninsured for a year or less.
- The highest amount of uncompensated care comes from Medicare and Medicaid patients. In laymen’s terms, this means that doctors are not paid the full amount for their services most often by patients under current government programs. When this happens, premiums for people that do pay for their insurance rise to cover the lost dollars from the government.
- Requiring employees to provide health insurance but only fining them a small amount for not doing so will end up leaving more people uninsured and seeking the “public option.”
- “Public option” health insurance plans do not and will not ever compete fairly with private plans because of subsidies.
These are only a few points that are important to remember in the healthcare debate. If you go to a town hall meeting, stay on point and paint yourself as an informed citizen concerned about the effects of more government regulation and expansion. Swastikas and uninformed statements contribute more to the problem than they do the solution.
-Daniel Groce is a possible new contributor to SWGAPolitics.com. Think you may be interested in contributing as well? Let us know!
