Health Freedom
Forcing some to subsidize care for others is fundamentally unjust, as is price controls, corporate subsidies, government
control through licensing and prescriptions, and regulation of insurance and regulation of health providers (and the treatments
they can provide & payment they can accept). We need health freedom. Here's how.
by Christine Smith
Sunday, April 6, 2008
I believe in individual liberty and personal responsibility...health
care and the options we choose for our bodies should be ours alone to choose...it should not be under the control of the government.
Ask yourself - when has the federal government ever achieved anything cheaper or more efficient than the free market?
The reason healthcare costs are enormous is directly because of the federal government being involved in it. We had an excellent
system of health care in America - highest quality and low costs (even for those in poverty) - UNTIL the federal government
intruded It is the federal government which inflated the costs.
Only AFTER the federal government became involved
with their Medicare/Medicaid did costs skyrocket.
The truth is there has not been a free market in medicine for many
years...only returning to a true free market will result in affordable cost and health freedom.
Government "health" agencies:
In my opinion government agencies such as the FDA, and DEA stand in
the way to American's health with all their regulations. Regulations delay and prohibit pain-relieving drugs and potentially
helpful pharmaceuticals/treatments from being available to the American people. The federal government has no constitutional
authority to be involved in healthcare, I believe allowing the government to control our access to health treatments and research
is one of the biggest barriers to our health.
We need health freedom, which means an end to all government involvement
in this area. I believe the free market (with voluntary private sector research and certification organizations) would do
a far better job than the bureaucratic wasteful and corrupt federal government...and lives would be saved, prolonged, and
enhanced.
Americans should have the freedom to whatever healthcare, supplements, or pharmaceuticals they choose free
from government regulation. It is a private decision between themselves (and those they choose to trust such as their health
practitioners, doctors, etc.). Your healthcare options should not be decided by some government bureaucracy. A truly free
society would have no FDA or DEA.
Because the best interest of the American people is my priority, I believe the FDA
should be abolished...thus making "off label" drugs and devices readily available to all seeking them and to all wishing to
research them further. In my opinion, this will result in effective drugs and treatments being brought to the market faster
and at a lower cost, the approx. $1.7 billion currently given to the FDA being saved, and most importantly: lives being saved.
First Amendment Protected:
I support legislation that protects protect first amendment rights to cite
scientific information that supports the benefit of dietary supplements, organic produce and functional foods.
Abolish Federal Research:
Research belongs in the free market as that is where innovation flourishes.
I am for our money being truly spent on health research be it complementary and alternative medicines, as well as continued
exploration into traditional or more conventional treatments, rather than being wasted by a federal government agency. Big
government does not work. Nearly all great advances in science and medicine have taken place outside of government. Let's
not continue to put much needed research under their control as well. We need less government intervention not more. If we
allow them to continue to use our money for their research we will suffer. I oppose important research being done with taxpayers
money by a federal government agency. Government research becomes politicized (just look at the debate over medical marijuana
or stem cell research). Such wasteful time consuming (and harmful) debates do not exist in free market research.
Thus,
as one who certainly does believe in support of continued scientific research of traditional pharmaceuticals as well as complimentary
and alternative medicines, I am for an end to government funding of health research, I would allow Americans to keep more
of the money they earn (by shrinking the size, power and cost of the federal government and ending the income tax) so the
American people can voluntarily give that money towards the research organizations and causes they favor. Every American could
support research into the areas they wish to fund (rather than the government taking their money and saying it is using it
to help them). If we put that (our) money into private research (rather than permitting the government to do it), the results
would be far more fruitful. Think of your favorite medical research charities - and consider how much more money you could
contribute to the causes you particularly want to support if you keep the money you earned and then you decided where to donate
it to.
Vaccines:
Should our children be forced to receive controversial vaccinations (such as mandating schoolchildren
receive the HPV vaccine)? I do not believe a government (taxpayer funded) agency should either encourage or discourage such
vaccines. And I certainly oppose the government ever forcing parents to administer HPV vaccines to their daughters. Again,
this is big government intruding upon your rights as a parent. HPV is communicable only through intimate contact. As such,
it poses no threat between children engaged in casual school proximity contact. It should indeed be voluntary, and it should
not use taxpayer money.
Choice:
I support the right of consumers to choose the type of health care they want and the practitioners
and treatments they choose.
Medical care for veterans & New experimental treatments such as HBOT: HBOT is a fascinating
hopeful treatment, and I am amazed at the cases I have read regarding it, and I believe it should be fully available and able
to be utilized by all Americans. The possibility of what it may accomplish for the thousands of service members who have suffered
brain injuries is hopeful.
I do not believe those in desperate medical situations should have to qualify for clinical
studies in order to possibly receive a treatment or drug, nor do I think our military forces/veterans (or any American)should
be deprived of any treatment they wish to pursue - the federal government should never be allowed to limit access to treatments
& drugs.
I believe our military men and women should have access to the very best in medical care, and thus, as
president, I would propose transforming current veterans' health coverage into private insurance that would let them be treated
in private practice by practitioners they choose. Further, I think that for future enlistments, those entering our services
should receive adequate compensation allowing/requiring them to purchase private insurance to cover service-related injury
rather than having government provided services. This way, service members can have coverage applicable to their risks, and
provisions for years to come for severe injury, prolonged rehabilitation, or delayed/prolonged ailments such as Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder. There would be no more waiting periods, no refusal for alternative treatments sought, and the best care.
I believe our service members deserve this, and only the free market--private insurance covering care from private facilities--
can best deliver this to them.
Medicare/Medicaid:
Should be repealed. I believe all such government programs must be abolished, but
with the process of doing so ensuring provision for those already in their elder years who have paid into the system; I have
considered the solution may be with a stopping point of (say for example the age of 55) with everyone below the determined
age to receive a refund of their monies (with interest) and those beyond the age able to remain in the system for benefits
if they so choose. This way we end this bad unjust system and simultaneously provide for those who have paid into it for years.
Managed health care as we currently have does not work - the only ones pleased with it are government bureaucrats,
drug companies, corporations and HMOs. But the American people suffer under its inefficiency. The people will suffer even
more under any socialized health plan (government mandated insurance or any type "universal" coverage), while the same few
benefiting now will benefit greater. I care about all Americans having access to affordable healthcare and pursuit of any
treatment they wish to obtain - only a free market will give us that. Forcing some to subsidize care for others is fundamentally
unjust, as is price controls, corporate subsidies, government control through licensing and prescriptions, and regulation
of insurance and regulation of health providers (and the treatments they can provide & payment they can accept). Private
healthcare and insurance must be able to be competitive (free from government regulation) thereby resulting in better care
and lower costs. We need health freedom.
