[Apologetics] Why can't it be this simple?

[Stuart D. Gathman]

Problem: health care for the poor currently is provided by hospital 
emergency rooms.  ER can properly treat things like broken bones, even if 
the patient cannot pay (paying patients are overcharged to cover the 
cost).  However, patients understandably don't go until it is too late for 
preventative measures.  Many preventative measures cannot be provided by 
ER - e.g. insulin for diabetics.

Simple welfare model solution once advocated by old fashioned liberals: 
Current, preventative measures like vaccinations are publically funded and 
available to the poor.  Why can't we just expand such care to include 
insulin, etc?  The list of publically funded health care services can be 
expanded or reduced to match available budget.  (Like library hours have 
been recently reduced due to reduced budget.)

For those with a job, individual health *insurance* (as opposed to HMOs, 
which amount to corporate socialism) is less than $100/mo (goes up 
starting with middle age).  Medical expenses are tax free when spent 
through a Health Savings Account.  (*All* tax free, no 7.5% AGI minimum.) 
All told, insured individual health care costs about as much as driving a 
privately owned car.  A cheap car for the young, a luxury car for the old.

Most people would probably be much better off financially and healthwise 
paying for health insurance instead of a car (take public transportation, 
bike, use ZipCar - that's what I do, no car).  But the Federal Government
has no authority to *mandate* that everyone do so.  Even the judge that 
found a right to abortion in the "penumbras of the constitution" would be
hard put to justify this.

So what's the problem?  I still don't understand what problem ObamaCare
purpots to solve.  I still meet people (on the bus) who are angry that 
ObamaCare is being thwarted - but they can't explain how it is going to 
help their problems.  They just believe that somehow, magically, it will 
do so.

-- 
	      Stuart D. Gathman <stuart at bmsi.com>
    Business Management Systems Inc.  Phone: 703 591-0911 Fax: 703 591-6154
"Confutatis maledictis, flammis acribus addictis" - background song for
a Microsoft sponsored "Where do you want to go from here?" commercial.