Universal Health Care

I hear a lot today about Universal Health Care. Al Franken, who is running for senator from Minnesota, was on Late Night with David Letterman the other night He said that his number one campaign issue is the need for Universal Health Care. Actually, the problem is not with getting health care; the problem is with paying for it. Many people want the government to step in and do something about the problem. Well, the government has already stepped in many years ago and that is the reason we have the problems we have today. Government regulation and the insurance system brought about by government regulation are the reason health care is unaffordable.

When the late Harry Browne was running for president, he quoted some figures that indicated that the average older American paid a smaller percentage of their overall income before Medicare than they do now and had better care. Old people say, oh I could not afford to pay for my health care if it were not for Medicare. Younger people say that I could not afford to pay for my health care if I did not have insurance. They could if government regulations did not make health care unreasonably costly.

Occasionally I hear someone say that the cost of health care is lots more expensive now because of all the technology that we have today that they did not have in the past. It does not work that way. Technology does not make things more expensive, it in fact, reduces cost. If you don't believe it, look at the price of the original home PC and what it did. Now look at the price of a new Dell and what it will do. Why is that? It is because the government does not regulate the computer industry. No, technology is not increasing prices; the expense associated with government regulation and insurance is what causes our medical cost to be out of sight.

If Mr. Franken and all the other politicians really want to make health care affordable for all Americans they need to work to get the government out of our health care system instead of calling for more government intervention. The government has never fixed anything. The late Harry Browne described the situation best when he said all the government is good for is to come in and break your legs, hand you a pair of crutches and say “look, without us you would not be able to walk.”