Letter: Free to make my own decision

One of the most fundamental concepts in life is that for every decision there is a cost and a benefit. There are no choices in life that are “cost-free.” Yet when government proposals are sold to the public they are only done so in ways that illustrate the benefits and ignore the cost.

The current healthcare debate has been a largely emotional discussion and few people have focused on the hard facts relating to the debate. I would propose that we set our emotions aside and look at the health-care debate in a rational way. We all agree that the cost of healthcare is too high, but there is much debate on how to fix the problem.

Healthcare is so high is because we have made so many medical breakthroughs in the past 50 years that prices had to go up. People live longer lives and diseases that used to be devastating are now manageable. The problem is all of these benefits have a steep cost associated with them and it has come to the point where something needs to be done to bring the cost down.

One method to reduce cost in medical care is to pass tort reform. Medical malpractice rates are so high right now in some states that many medical practices are shutting down and people are left without access to doctors. States that have capped limits on damages have seen declining malpractice rates and have been able to attract some of the best doctors to their states.

Another area that needs reforming is allowing people to buy insurance across state lines. Every time competition is introduced into the marketplace, prices go down.

What the president is proposing is only more of the same. He wants to increase the government’s role in health care and eliminate choice and competition. He advocates for a one size fits all government plan that will not work and will ultimately decrease quality and innovation. Every
country that has tried socialized medicine has seen an increase in mortality rates in virtually every major disease.

Call your congressman and tell him you don’t want more government interference in your life. You want to be free to make your own healthcare decisions without having to deal with a government bureaucracy.

Christopher Calvin Reid
Dothan