Why
should anyone be in favor of the new Republican health care proposal?
Is it something new and
innovative? Does it eliminate excess costs? Does it streamline the drug
approval processes? Does it improve and expand the healthcare delivery system?
Was it developed without industry lobbyists having undue influence? Does it
control existing costs and future cost increases? Does it reduce the cost of
prescription drugs? Does it solve any of our major health care problems? No!
It's the same bloated,
special interest driven, inadequate legislation, that government always
creates? Only here, it eliminates mandatory participation - great!
While I support that
important change, I also recognize, that as a consequence, it will cover less
people. And personally, I don't support that. I don't support it from a
philosophical, or a practical perspective.
Why should anyone support
it? Is it because of our Republican mind set, that we're not our brothers
keeper? Is that justification - the Republican answer?
That's the same old dogma
that we have clung to for decades? Does anyone believe that's even sound
reasoning anymore? Or is it just wishful thinking?
It's a wonderfully
attractive notion. I'm sure we all wish it were true. Unfortunately, it's
simply not true. It's a fantasy. It doesn't work.
Like it or not, we are
our brothers keepers - to some degree. And we need to accept it, so we can deal
with it - intelligently.
Whether we always were
our brothers keepers, or we became that way, due to our failed policies of the
past, is a moot point. At this point, there's no going back. People need help
and we can either provide that help, or suffer the consequences.
And the life changing
consequences of inaction, will vastly exceed the costs of intelligent action.
Look around. 43% of U.S.
households are fatherless. The U.S. has 17.5 million fatherless kids. Millions
are uneducated, untrained, unemployed and as a consequence, society is growing
increasingly unsafe.
Technology is eliminating
jobs in virtually every area of human activity. Things are only going to get
worse. Millions more will be displaced - annually.
We are in the midst of a
technological revolution, greater than the industrial revolution, with no
training, yet available for the transition. Millions of jobs will be lost -
regardless of how many Trump tries to bring back.
Does anyone really think
that hiding behind old dogma, like "I'm not my brothers keeper", or
"just say no", provides a viable direction for the country, moving
forward? I don't.
We are so far past that,
it's no longer even worth discussing. That train has long ago left the station.
Albert Einstein said,
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again
and expecting different results."
There is nothing new and
innovative about this Republican proposal. At best, it's an exercise in
subtraction.
We need to rethink our
entire approach, not just to healthcare, but to everything.
This is a new world and
dramatic changes are upon us. Artificial intelligence, massive changes in data
aggregation and computing power, 3D printing, cloud computing, research in
genomics, all of these things promise radical and imminent change.
The only thing that's not
changing, is the efficiency of government.
We need a system that is
highly efficient and cost effective. We need a system that controls costs and
streamlines our drug testing and approval processes. We need a system that provides
basic free health care to all Americans. A single payer system that eliminates
30% of health care costs, simply by eliminating the administrative overhead of
health insurance companies.
We need to rethink our
overall approach toward the role of government, and engineer a society that
incorporates the best of capitalism, while addressing the social costs of
capitalism.
A system that maintains
the social equilibrium, essential to our continued growth, safety and mutual
prosperity.
That is not Obamacare,
and that is not the half baked Republican proposal.
Why
should anyone like it?
