Giving Sebelius a Small Piece of My Mind

The NJ Star-Ledger published an op-ed by Kathleen Sebelius, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services; N.J. has lots to lose if health reform legislation is repealed. Sebelius listed a slew of alleged benefits that many New Jerseyans would allegedly lose without ObamaCare. Here are some excerpts:

"Thanks to the law, all Americans with insurance are now protected from some of the insurance industry’s worst abuses, such as having their coverage canceled when they get sick just because they made a mistake on an application, or facing a lifetime dollar cap on their benefits.


"Under the law, 54 million people with private health insurance, including 1.7 million in New Jersey, now can get free preventive care...


"For seniors, repeal would mean they’d lose free preventive care...


"Insurance companies could once again throw children with pre-existing conditions, such as asthma and diabetes, off a family policy, or refuse to cover their illness."


There is more, and my comments below only scratch the surface of the issues raised, and of the broader problems with ObamaCare and it's supporters. Here are the comments I left. I think I made the broader point that ObamaCare is a power-grab, not a moral solution to anything:

zemack  [me] July 12, 2012 at 9:52AM

What Ms. Sebelius doesn’t mention is the fact that the problems in American healthcare can be fixed with free market solutions.

Some examples; a simple rider on an insurance policy to cover pre-existing conditions should a policy-holder lose or switch insurers, or an umbrella policy (similar to liability umbrella insurance) to cover overruns of lifetime caps. A big part of the pre-existing conditions problem could be solved by ending the government-imposed third-party-payer system (people don’t worry about loss of life, auto, or homeowners insurance when they switch jobs, because they own the policies). Anti-fraud laws are enough to protect against breach of contract, such as unfair cancelations of policies. Other government abuses, such as the avalanche of insurance mandates and competition-stifling interferences like bans on interstate insurance sales and CON requirements that drive up the cost of insurance are also not mentioned by Ms. Sebelius. ObamaCare’s architects and supporters are not interested in moral, rights-protecting solutions; otherwise these “reformers” would have started by examining previous government policies and programs.

As to those freebies she mentions; well, George Orwell would have been proud. Nothing is free. Those services are paid for by money immorally seized from other people by force of taxes or mandated insurance coverage. Ms. Sebelius can’t conceive of people actually paying for their own preventive care. But then this is the essence of socialism—make everyone both a slave to the needs of others, and a parasite on the wealth of others—with the government the big winner in the form of ever-increasing power over our lives and wealth.

ObamaCare is a continuation of the pattern of the past 50-75 years—a gradual government takeover of American healthcare. ObamaCare must not only be repealed, but the previous encroachments which are not only immoral but a primary cause of the problems it is alleged ObamaCare will fix must eventually be phased out. People have the right to make their own choices in life. Doctors, patients, insurers, consumers, and other medical providers have a right to contract freely and voluntarily with one another to mutual advantage, and no one has an automatic claim on the services or wallets of another. The government should protect these rights, not exploit the legitimate needs of some to continuously expand its intrusive powers.

For more, I recommend Moral Health Care vs. "Universal Health Care" by Lin Zinser and Paul Hsieh.