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Combs: Government health care faces insurmountable hurdles

Before taking the plunge, Democrats should consider...

By Britt Combs | The McDowell News

Published: June 16, 2009

For good or ill, this is the Democrats' time to get what they want, and public, universal health care is a long-cherished dream of theirs. They will have it.

Sadly, it is a foregone conclusion that it will be a terrific failure and will lead to greater human suffering. It's not that it can't be done, but that the party's political liabilities will prevent it being done intelligently.

Long ago, capitalists said free enterprise could not survive the elimination of debtors' prison. But Dickensian humanitarian concerns won out, and the debtors' prisons were closed. Just as with the elimination of slavery, child labor, indentured servitude and the "company store," the free market absorbed the shock, shouldered the cost and grew to bigger and better things.

Today, a prosperous, progressive and enlightened society has a vested interest in seeing to it there are no poor people dying in the street for lack of medical care. It would be desirable, for both humanitarian and public health reasons, to see to it no one is hobbling around on a broken bone, bleeding from open wounds, ravaged with infection, raving in lunacy or doubled over in chronic pain.

Society could and should alleviate their suffering. There are a host of medical procedures and wonderful drugs that are long in use, inexpensive, safe and quick. Providing that basic level of care is doable. But several factors will prevent the establishment of anything like that sensible level of universal health care, factors President Obama will be utterly powerless to overcome.

-- Trial lawyers are among the biggest contributors to the Democrats' treasury. There are literally hundreds of thousands of lawyers like John Edwards who have amassed fortunes suing doctors and insurance companies. Their success translates into campaign contributions for Democrats, who ensure the lawyers' continued access to the money river.
They can't and won't streamline medical services for the poor by limiting civil liability.

-- Americans have an intense fetish for the newest and trendiest gadgets. This is true in the medical field every bit as much as in entertainment. The drug or procedure or machine that was working wonders a few years ago is now considered passé. Pharmaceuticals might be happy to have the government, not the consumer, making decisions about which machine or which drug to pay for. But such decisions will inevitably be made politically, not for the patient's best interest.
To suggest the government can decide on a drug or procedure without regard to political obligations is to ignore all human history.

-- The idea that a rich man can have things others can't have frosts Democrats no end. Whatever drug, procedure or machine anyone in power wants for themselves or their own families must also be extended to the very poorest. Which means, right from the start the plan is doomed to cost exponentially more than its advocates promise during this sales phase.

-- The president has recently allowed it will cost $1 trillion to insure 50 million uninsured Americans for 10 years. But, he points out, the war in Iraq costs more than that. The difference, of course, is that we hope to leave Iraq one day. Once we occupy the health care industry, we will own it. The expense will never go away.

Given the government's abysmal record of running pension and medical insurance plans for seniors – the expense of which is driving us to utter ruin – I have grave doubts the government can run a universal single player health plan efficiently.

Ah, but the president promised, we'd be able to keep our existing plan, the new plan will compete on the free market. That's hogwash. The government is a mighty fist that knows no restraint. It'll crush competing insurance with infinite regulation and taxes. It knows no different. Just as it'll drive Ford out of business or absorb it into the new GM, government cannot tolerate competition. As Abe Lincoln said, a house divided against itself cannot stand. When government goes into business it can only tolerate competition from failing businesses. Successful competition in the marketplace is a direct affront to government, an assault on their credibility and their bottom line.

When the Republicans were demanding passage of their stupid Patriot Act a few years ago, I warned them that one day the Democrats would get their hands on all that power. They didn't listen to me and now they live at the pleasure of the president. If he wants to, he can lock them all up and call them enemy combatants. Fortunately, Obama is a nice man. But what if Hillary had been elected? Can you imagine the horror of living in a police state with her as the supreme cop?

Now I warn you Democrats: Some day the Republicans will return to power. Then Republicans will decide what health care you can have and what you can't have. Please close your eyes and imagine that a moment. Are you sure that's what you want?

McDowell News reporter Britt Combs has been praised for his work by such national figures as economist Walter E. Williams, who called his columns "enjoyable" and "good work." Not bad, huh?