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Dear Gwinnett Daily Post:
Congress is close to voting on the so-called Patient’s Bill of Rights. This moniker is an insult to the original Bill of Rights. The 1789 version was about limiting federal power. The health care 2001 version is about expanding federal power. A more appropriate name would be the Lawyer’s Full Employment Health Care Act. Congress would have us believe that patients cannot sue in a state court.
This bill does nothing to improve health care. It has everything to do with lawyers being able to “feast” off the health care industry like they did with big tobacco. It has everything to do with when and how a patient/plaintiff can sue a health care provider. This bill allows patients to sue prior to a case going to a medical review board. It allows patients that don’t get enough money in state court to take their suit to federal court. And of course, this bill trumps any state law that happens to limit the amount that can be awarded in such a suit.
Instead of focusing on lawyers, I recommend Congress focus on the person that consumes health care. Why does Congress keep experimenting with socialist schemes where employers and third parties, not the consumer, are in charge of health care resources? We need a Patient’s Declaration of Independence, not a bill of rights.
Why doesn’t Congress focus on eliminating barriers to competition in the health care industry? This is what Medical Savings Accounts were supposed to do. Instead, Congress hog-tied MSAs with mandates such as high minimum deductibles and arbitrary, restrictive rules that determine which companies are allowed to offer MSAs to their workers. Consumers should be able to choose which plan they want.
We have a health care crisis because of government interference. When consumers are not in charge of how much of a given product they want, there is no mechanism for improvement. There is no incentive for prices to go anywhere but up. Severe problems are the natural result. Consider how true this is for parents of school age children and people that need postal service.
In a free market, growing demand creates more people and businesses willing to supply the product or service demanded. How many doctors do you know that encourage young people to enter the medical profession? How many people are writing business plans to provide health care services?
Wes Alexander
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