Is this freedom?

A “Blue Ribbon Commission” has recommended that the state of Colorado “require residents to purchase some sort of coverage” for healthcare insurance… These are the same state bureaucrats that think forcing people to show ID to vote is equivalent to a “poll tax”, and a barrier to casting a vote. Hypocrisy is standard operating procedure in any government bureaucracy.

First of all, insurance is not the issue; it is the issue of access to healthcare that needs to be in the fore front of the debate. The premise that we need insurance is what I argue is a false premise when we are talking about routine medical treatment. Insurance should only be discussed in the argument for “catastrophic” or beyond the “normal’ healthcare services we need access to. Based on actuarial tables, this insurance would be much more affordable. But that is not the issue here.

Why force people to pay for insurance they may not use? Why can’t I pay cash when I go to the doctor? What if I choose as an individual that the risk to cost ratio is too high, and I want to risk not paying the $300 a month for an insurance premium I may never use? When did we decide government should decide what is in our best interest? Should we allow the government to decide what car we drive? The Grocery store we use? What retailer’s we can buy our goods from? Why not just give bureaucrats the power to make all the decisions in our lives? Healthcare choices are no different. As I always say; if a service is unusually expensive, it is because the government has a hand in it. Usually through the arm of regulatory power.

When will it stop? The supporters of government run healthcare always tout the “one-payer” system as the way to increase efficiency in the system. They are right; it should be one payer for healthcare and that is the consumer. Just like we choose our landscaper, plumber, television set, and food, we need to shop for our doctor. We should not base that decision on our healthcare premium but rather base it on the quality and cost of the doctor providing the service. Just a thought…