Health Care Reform as "Government Air"

Want to know what "public option" health insurance would look like? Just imagine trying to fly "Government Air," the new Health Care Reform video from the Independence Institute encourages. The results are perhaps somewhat different than what NPR had in mind.

Rep. Mike Coffman Wrong to Demand More Insurance Controls

In a July 30 article for the Denver Post, Rep. Mike Coffman criticizes "increasing the government's involvement in our health care system." Why, then, is that what he promotes?

Coffman wants politicians to "require health insurers to cover those with pre-existing conditions." But prior political interference is precisely what created the problem. Tax policy pushed many Americans into the expensive, non-portable employer-paid system. Lose your job, lose your insurance. Politicians burden insurers with reams of ever-changing controls, undercutting their ability to offer long-term policies.

Forcing insurers to ignore pre-existing conditions only encourages people to wait to get insurance until they get sick, leading to Massachusetts-style mandates.

Coffman is right to want to limit frivolous legal suits and ease the tax burden for individual purchases of health care. The solution is not more political control but liberty.

(Note: The Denver Post declined to publish the above letter. I'm sure it is merely coincidence that the Post's pro-Obamacare editorial content has vastly outweighed the material critical of Obamacare, particularly in the letters.)

Malkin Mentions Longmont Rally

A video of the "Hands Off My Health Care" rally from August 6 in Longmont, Colorado, has received over a thousand YouTube views -- and counting.

Watch all four videos.

The most-watched video, and my personal favorite, is "Longmont CO Health Ralliers Reply to Democratic 'Mob' Charge:"


The video also got a brief mention by Michelle Malkin in an August 7 blog.

Meet the 'Mob:' Longmont Protests Obamacare

Longmont CO Health Ralliers Reply to Democratic 'Mob' Charge


August 10 Update: In the above video, Spark Erickson says, "Hell, we came in on a bus with 45 agitators... of course we are [part of a mob]. You know that... And if I'm not, they'll tell you I am, so... go whatever way you want to with that." Apparently Erickson's sarcasm was lost on some viewers. Jeff Crank, the event's organizer, reports, "In total, there were six people who rode the bus from place to place on the bus tour. That includes the driver and tour coordinator."

Longmont CO Health Raly August 6 2009 Part 1


Longmont CO Health Raly August 6 2009 Part 2


Longmont CO Health Rally Speakers August 6, 2009


According to certain Democratic leaders, those who protest Obamacare are mobs. Ben DeGrow offers a good summary of articles related to this.

Congressman Ed Perlmutter told the Denver Post about tense Town Hall meetings, "They gin up this conflict and in some ways thuggery to try and stop stuff."

In other words, at a Town Hall meeting, where politicians invite people to come and speak, politicians expect people to shut up and take it.

According to Congressman Perlmutter, forcibly confiscating people's money is not "thuggery." Forcing some people to subsidize others through a maze of insurance controls and mandates is not "thuggery." Dictating to doctors how they shall provide health care, to patients how they shall receive it, and to insurers how they shall insure it, is not "thuggery." But complaining about it, that is "thuggery." Speaking up is "thuggery." Saying "no" to Big Brother is "thuggery." Daring to exercise the First Amendment is "thuggery." According to Congressman Perlmutter.

I was amazed that 150 to 200 people showed up for a "Hands Off My Health" rally in Longmont, in the middle of a work day, when seven such rallies were scheduled across the state with little advance notice.

I talked to a number of participants. I asked people why they came to the rally. I asked them why they oppose Obamacare. Finally, I asked them what they think of Democratic smears that they're part of some "mob." In short, I did what Democrats are deathly afraid to do: listen to people's opinions.

August 8 Update: I've added a fourth video, featuring some of the comments of the speakers. My favorite videos feature the participants. Please note that I don't necessarily agree with everything said at the rally.

Moreover, I didn't include everything I recorded in the published videos. I omitted a couple of comments, one calling Obama a "bastard" and another calling him a "racist." These were not indicative of the mood or sentiment of the event, nor do I regard such remarks as remotely useful. I recorded at least one comment about abortion that I left out; however, I think only one or two people I talked with mentioned the issue.

One guy said he thinks the solution is local taxes to care for the poor, which, while arguably better than federal programs, is neither consistent with liberty nor remotely adequate for those who regard health care as some sort of right.

Jeff Crank, the event's organizer, made the same comment he made at a previous rally, which is that the government should force insurers to ignore pre-existing conditions. I've criticized that view previously (in a co-authored column with my dad).

I approached people more or less randomly for interviews. Obviously only a minority agreed to be interviewed.

Interestingly, while some of the handful of union-associated counter-protesters talked with the Longmont Daily Times-Call, they all refused to grant me an interview. They said they were too busy and had to hit the road to attend the next rally. I think they were simply unable to make their case for Obamacare and knew as much.

However, I gave Nate, one of the counter-protestors, my card. I told him he could write a 500 word reply to this post, and I would publish it, unedited, perhaps with my reply. If you actually have arguments for your position, Nate, please take advantage of my offer. Otherwise, people might think you're all show and no substance.

Report Yourself to Obama's Thought Police

Diana Hsieh points out that opponents of Obamacare need to report themselves to the Obama administration for their "fishy" views.

From the White House: "Since we can't keep track of all of them here at the White House, we're asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."

Here is Diana's self-report:

Dear Minister of Propaganda,

I'd like to report myself. I think that the Obama administration is attempting a government takeover of health care. Mandates are bad enough in themselves, and they're just one step on the road to total government control of medicine. That's appalling. I support individual rights and free markets in health care -- not more government welfare and controls.

I've told that to tons of people. Please tell me when and where I should report to my re-education camp.

I like hers so much I wrote a similar one:

Dear Minister of Propaganda,

As per your request, I'd like to report an American citizen to you for daring to exercise his First Amendment rights and speak out against Barack Obama's attempted political takeover of medicine.

I am reporting myself.

Not only do I believe that political interference in medicine is wrong and impractical, but I've told many other people about my views, and I intend to repeat this grave offense again today.

I fear I am an incorrigible practitioner of the First Amendment and an intransigent defender of individual rights. Please notify me when you have established your re-education camps, so that I may report in person.

Sincerely,

Ari Armstrong
Westminster, CO

In Health Debate, Left and Right Need to Check Premises

The following article originally was published on August 3, 2009, by Grand Junction's Free Press.

In health debate, left and right need to check premises

by Linn and Ari Armstrong

Hundreds gathered at the state capitol last Tuesday to protest the further political takeover of medicine. On Wednesday more than a thousand gathered in Fort Collins and Colorado Springs.

The left has also been vocal. Around the time of the rallies, Rep. Diana DeGette released a speech praising Democratic "reform," and assorted columnists joined in.

Obviously, our sympathies tend toward those who protest Obamacare. (Your junior author gave a speech at the Denver rally that you can view at FreeColorado.com.) However, while we criticize the left, we also disagree with various sentiments expressed by the right.

We'll begin with the left, where snappy but bogus statistical arguments continue to defy reasoned analysis. DeGette claimed that the United States has "one of the worst results in infant mortality." Ed Quillen of the Denver Post wrote that the French pay less for health care for better results. "We pay considerably more to get shorter lifespans and more dead babies," he wrote.

But obviously health care is only one of many influences on life expectancy (which continues to rise here). Diet plays a large role; Americans tend to carry around more extra pounds. Economists Robert Ohsfeldt and John Schneider point out that relatively high rates of car crashes and homicides depress U.S. life expectancy. By Quillen's logic, politicized medicine can also cure risky driving.

The U.S. beats France hands down when it comes to cancer survival or access to health technology.

As Sally Pipes and others point out, infant mortality is recorded differently in France than it is in the U.S. Here an infant with "any sign of life" that then dies counts as an infant mortality. France adds a viability standard, so the same infant that counts as an "infant mortality" in the U.S. may count as a stillbirth in France. Ronald Baily adds that more infants tend to be born underweight in the U.S. because more teens have children here.

DeGette and Quillen damn American doctors precisely because they heroically try to save infants that in France would be discarded.

The left suffers worse ideological problems. Mike Littwin, also of the Post, argued last week that equality-driven, politically-run health care is a moral issue.

We quite agree it is a moral issue. It is immoral to seize people's resources by force. It is immoral to forcibly override the independent judgment of doctors, patients, insurers, and consumers and to nullify their agreements. We oppose politically-run medicine because it violates morality. Moral health care respects people's rights of liberty, property, and voluntary association.

Unfortunately, the right also veers off track. Previously we wrote about the failings of Republicans like Mitt Romney, who pushed through mandatory, subsidized insurance in Massachusetts, and Jim DeMint, who advocates different health welfare.

Many at the Denver rally urged members of Congress to "read the bill first." We agree, but politicized health care threatens our health and liberty even if they read the bill.

Some opposed Obamacare because it may include tax financing of abortions. Yet this is a side-line issue. We get the eerie feeling that some on the right would accept bureaucratic medicine if it came packaged with an abortion ban (a possibility that should give the left pause).

We join the many calls for tort reform, but again that's not a fundamental issue. Reining in law suits won't fix the problems caused by political interference in health funding, delivery, and insurance. Still, we do want to weed out frivolous suits while compensating damage resulting from negligence.

One of the speakers at the Denver rally, Preston Gibson of the Jefferson Economic Council, eloquently argued that the "public option" would drive out private insurance.

Unfortunately, Gibson also claimed that "employer-sponsored health insurance has been the foundation of the highest quality health care on earth." Wrong. Employer-paid insurance is the product of federal tax manipulation. It is non-portable. It is expensive because it encourages people to use insurance for routine care rather than unexpected, high-cost emergencies.

American medicine is great despite the IRS-promoted employer-paid system. We should move away from employer-paid insurance to individual policies. We support the expansion of Health Savings Accounts to allow the purchase of insurance with pre-tax dollars.

Jeff Crank, organizer of the Denver rally, likewise made many admirable points. However, he also claimed that the "right kind of health care reform" includes "eliminating the pre-existing conditions exclusion." We take this to mean imposing more political controls on insurance companies.

When insurers are forced to take people with pre-existing conditions, many people wait to buy insurance until they get sick, undermining the very purpose of insurance (and leading to Romney-style mandates). The real answer is to remove all the political controls of insurance that have mostly destroyed the market for long-term policies.

Too often neither the left nor the right gets it. The name of our favorite health policy group summarizes the essential values we must protect: Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine.