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Do you agree with Dr. Ron Paul on health care?

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul339.html As a medical doctor, I’ve seen first-hand how bureaucratic red tape interferes with the doctor-patient relationship and drives costs higher. The current system of third-party payers takes decision-making away from doctors, leaving patients feeling rushed and worsening the quality of care. Yet health insurance premiums and drug costs keep rising. Clearly a new approach is needed. Congress needs to craft innovative legislation that makes health care more affordable without raising taxes or increasing the deficit. It also needs to repeal bad laws that keep health care costs higher than necessary. We should remember that HMOs did not arise because of free-market demand, but rather because of government mandates. The HMO Act of 1973 requires all but the smallest employers to offer their employees HMO coverage, and the tax code allows businesses – but not individuals – to deduct the cost of health insurance premiums. The result is the illogical coupling of employment and health insurance, which often leaves the unemployed without needed catastrophic coverage. While many in Congress are happy to criticize HMOs today, the public never hears how the present system was imposed upon the American people by federal law. As usual, government intervention in the private market failed to deliver the promised benefits and caused unintended consequences, but Congress never blames itself for the problems created by bad laws. Instead, we are told more government – in the form of “universal coverage” – is the answer. But government already is involved in roughly two-thirds of all health care spending, through Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs. For decades, the U.S. healthcare system was the envy of the entire world. Not coincidentally, there was far less government involvement in medicine during this time. America had the finest doctors and hospitals, patients enjoyed high-quality, affordable medical care, and thousands of private charities provided health services for the poor. Doctors focused on treating patients, without the red tape and threat of lawsuits that plague the profession today. Most Americans paid cash for basic services, and had insurance only for major illnesses and accidents. This meant both doctors and patients had an incentive to keep costs down, as the patient was directly responsible for payment, rather than an HMO or government program. The lesson is clear: when government and other third parties get involved, health care costs spiral. The answer is not a system of outright socialized medicine, but rather a system that encourages everyone – doctors, hospitals, patients, and drug companies – to keep costs down. As long as “somebody else” is paying the bill, the bill will be too high. Erich M, the solution is to get the government out of healthcare. It was fine before congress forced medicare, medicaid, and HMOs down our throats.

Public Comments

1. Absolutely.
2. Yeah, 110%
3. I agree with Ron Paul with most things financially related.
4. Ok
5. Yes I agree. How about dont let politicians but medical professionals regulate the healthcare.
6. yes
7. Well, he offered a nice op-ed, but still didn't offer a solution. Wants the point of expressing your opinion if you don't have a solution to the problem? That's where these guys are going wrong. They complain and point out deficiencies but have no remedy for them. What's Mr. Paul's plan, then?
8. Go ahead and keep the status quo for all I care. What I will do, should I need surgery, is leave America like thousands of Americans are doing every year to countries where cardiac surgery like valve replacement can cost $30,000 instead of $130,000. More American insurance companies like Blue Cross, Blue Shield will pay for the travel and surgery because they know the client will get top-notch care and spend a lot less for it. It's called Medial Tourism. An ideal solution to the greedy American doctors whose time has come.
9. No, I prefer the perspective of Dr. Howard Dean. I'm disappointed in Dr. Paul, who usually at least gets his facts straight. Here he waxes nostalgic about a bygone era that never actually existed.
10. He is correct. However, it will be impossible to get govt. out of health care business at this point, because of Medicare. It won't be impossible to get the 3rd parties (eg: insurance) out though and that is what Obama should pursue.
11. Thats all well and good, but what solution does he propose to fix it? Just saying "everyone lower costs" isn't a solution and its not realistic. There was nothing wrong with the system until the insurance companies inevitably got greedy and powerful and ruined the whole system. This is a classic example of why pure free markets fail in a real world situation, and why there needs to be at least some kind of government oversight to keep it in check. Perhaps UHC isn't the answer to our healthcare problems, but its far and away the best solution out there right now.
12. Actually, yes I do agree with him. I too feel that we need to make some legal changes in what has happened. One way to start is to make all initial office calls paid for by the individual, not insurance. That will keep people from abusing the system for every little sniffle and will free up doctors to actually treat someone who is really sick and will also encourage doctors to be competitive in their pricing. Second, we need a policy where people without health care can have basic services only if the taxpayers have to pay for it. Thirdly, we need a much deeper concentration on preventative health care for everyone...which would include bringing phy ed back into the schools and encouraging physical games at recess, low cost or free nutrition counseling and low cost or no cost weight reduction and excercise programs. This could all be done through local hospitals if they chose to do so. It would still be up to the individual to participate...but at least the opportunities would be there. Screenings for basic illnesses should also be reduced in cost. Things like Pap Smears, Mammograms, Colonoscopies and Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar levels should be available to anyone at little cost. Health insurance should be for ONLY catastophic illness and prevention...not to treat the common cold or flu virus. Injuries would of course be covered in all cases...severe cuts and broken bones. Doctors and hospital can play an important role in getting things worked out and their paperwork could be cut in half...which would help to bring down their costs. It would also help if some cause limits could be put on malpractice suits. Not so much in amount of awards, but in what a doctor could be sued for.
13. I agree with Ron Paul on very few things. But on this point, we agree.
14. Ron Paul has the facts wrong. Here is the quote from Nixon who signed the law. "Under S. 14, the Government would provide financial assistance to help various groups determine the feasibility of developing an HMO in their area, as well as assistance for planning and initial development. HMO's would be required to operate competitively without Federal subsidies at the end of an initial period of Federal support." The act was meant to help HMO grow, not force people to sign up for HMO. That come in 1990s when health care costs begin spiral out of control and many signed up without government involvement. HMOs stopped the spiral for a short time. If there was no government health care like Medicare and a ban on trial lawyers, we would have more uninsured and those who pay would pay more.