Obama's 'open door' to health reform
Apologies to the less politically minded reading this, but I just hate when I see people arguing about issues while ignoring huge pieces of information. Health Care reform has the potential to impact every American, and could majorly affect the economy. Even if you're not political, I encourage you to educate yourself.
I have sent the following letter, or variants thereof, to my congressman John Lewis, my senators Johnny Isaakson and Saxby Chambliss, and President Obama. And now I share it with you.
Dear xx,
The president spoke to Congress last week and said that his door would always be open to good ideas. I have considered with great interest and curiosity the many health care plans offered by Congress, but none of the major ones seem to address the main problem we face in health care. I believe that the insights presented in the following article could improve how our nation's health care industry operates by encouraging us to remove some harmful regulation. I humbly ask for you to consider this article, and then press the Obama administration to endorse the reforms proposed therein:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200909/health-care
The basic premise is that the problems we suffer from in the American health care industry are the result of decades of policies that deflect the economy from being able to efficiently provide health care. Too much emphasis is given to insurance, but not all health care _should_ be paid for through insurance, just as not all maintenance to your car needs to be paid by auto insurance.
I support the article's assertion that America does not need more health insurance. Nor do we need a single payer system. What we need is to dismantle some of the unnecessary laws and regulations that distort the economics of health care, while simultaneously constructing tools to help Americans save intelligently to pay for regular medical treatment, and offering government aid in the form of basic coverage for those truly too poor to pay for themselves.
In the past 4 decades in nearly all industries, technology has driven costs down, allowing wider access to cars, computers, microwaves, food, and more. But due to well-intentioned but ill-envisioned government policies, health care costs have grown higher and higher. The problem is not the fault of the health care industry; they have simply responded with a rational profit motive to what is effectively an irrational market. The problem is an overabundance of unnecessary regulation.
I ask you to test the president's open door policy, and speak with him about removing broken regulations before we try adding a new layer of complication. I am confident that if we enact any of the major health care reform bills on the table now, we'll only be treating the symptoms, not the disease. Please, consider this alternative.
Sincerely,
Ryan Nock
I have sent the following letter, or variants thereof, to my congressman John Lewis, my senators Johnny Isaakson and Saxby Chambliss, and President Obama. And now I share it with you.
Dear xx,
The president spoke to Congress last week and said that his door would always be open to good ideas. I have considered with great interest and curiosity the many health care plans offered by Congress, but none of the major ones seem to address the main problem we face in health care. I believe that the insights presented in the following article could improve how our nation's health care industry operates by encouraging us to remove some harmful regulation. I humbly ask for you to consider this article, and then press the Obama administration to endorse the reforms proposed therein:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200909/health-care
The basic premise is that the problems we suffer from in the American health care industry are the result of decades of policies that deflect the economy from being able to efficiently provide health care. Too much emphasis is given to insurance, but not all health care _should_ be paid for through insurance, just as not all maintenance to your car needs to be paid by auto insurance.
I support the article's assertion that America does not need more health insurance. Nor do we need a single payer system. What we need is to dismantle some of the unnecessary laws and regulations that distort the economics of health care, while simultaneously constructing tools to help Americans save intelligently to pay for regular medical treatment, and offering government aid in the form of basic coverage for those truly too poor to pay for themselves.
In the past 4 decades in nearly all industries, technology has driven costs down, allowing wider access to cars, computers, microwaves, food, and more. But due to well-intentioned but ill-envisioned government policies, health care costs have grown higher and higher. The problem is not the fault of the health care industry; they have simply responded with a rational profit motive to what is effectively an irrational market. The problem is an overabundance of unnecessary regulation.
I ask you to test the president's open door policy, and speak with him about removing broken regulations before we try adding a new layer of complication. I am confident that if we enact any of the major health care reform bills on the table now, we'll only be treating the symptoms, not the disease. Please, consider this alternative.
Sincerely,
Ryan Nock