Should unelected bureacrats in Washington make decisions about our healtcare needs?
Our healthcare system has needed some changes for a long time but some of the changes now in place have had a negative impact not only on our country but on us as individuals. Passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act made some positive changes in this segment of our economy not the least of which is the requirement that individuals who have preexisting conditions cannot be denied health insurance.
In the past our healthcare decisions have been between us and our doctors but this is fast becoming a thing of the past as government bureaucrats are getting involved in our healthcare decisions. One of the points often made about the healthcare law is that government is deciding what coverage insurance must provide whether the benefits apply to your healthcare needs. In the past we could decide for ourselves what coverage we want and what we want to pay or what we can afford.
Healthcare is a big and critical segment of our economy not only for us as individuals but also for businesses. Unelected individuals in the Health and Human Services Department in the Executive are making decisions culminated in rules and regulations for which insurance companies must comply. It is not the job of the federal government to regulate or impose requirements as this has been and should be the responsibility of state governments. In fact there is nothing in the Constitution that identifies healthcare as a federal government responsibility. I have no problem with this executive department being in existence but I do feel like other departments or agencies of the federal government there is an overreach philosophy in existence.
There are some debates and even denials related to the term death panel existing within this law governing our healthcare. Whether this fact is true or false is uncertain but some examples have surfaced in the news. There was an incident where I believe a child need some surgery and someone in the government made the decision that she did not qualify in reference to her age. The parents of this individual went to court and won their case and the child lived. The head of this department could have made an exception but chose not to do so. It is examples like this that cause individuals to wonder whether such a panel exists.
Rules and regulations being issued by the federal government should never interfere with the healthcare needs of any individual. The decision should be between the doctor and the patient or the patient’s parents if the child is not of the age to make the decision. Age should have nothing to do whether an individual receives the needed healthcare. The requirements in the healthcare law along with the rules and regulations created to enforce it have turned the healthcare segment of our economy upside down in many respects. Individuals who had healthcare insurance and lost it as a result of this legislative action and are not forced to pay higher premiums with higher deductibles which may end up never being met during the year.
I am not for repealing the current healthcare law but replacing it with another piece of legislation taking the positive changes and correcting the negative impacts in a new law. Another aspect which should be a part of a replacement for the current law is the need for addressing our tort laws. Part of the reason insurance rates are high are the prices doctors must pay to protect themselves against lawsuits from unhappy patients. Granted there are instances where patients have a right to sue but there are others where true justification does not exist.
The federal government has no right or responsibility to come between a doctor and their patients. Healthcare needs is a personal decision to be made and government should not be a party in making that decision through rules and regulations along with any law in existence today or any that will exist in the future. We as individuals must be allowed to make our own healthcare decisions along with others without government interference. Let us hope the problems associated with the current law will be address and remove unelected bureaucrats from healthcare decisions. Whether this occurs within the next two years or under a new administration this issue needs to be addressed. Every citizen of this country deserves nothing less.
