Democrats in the House of Representatives will offer a bill that turns health care into a “right” for all people, costing the taxpayer more than a trillion dollars in the process and forcing career bureaucrats to raise taxes on higher-earning Americans to fund the initiative.
The 1,000-page bill would impose a 5.4 percent surtax on individuals making more than $1 million a year and will raise taxes on couples making more than $350,000 to provide for the supposed “right”. The bill would also penalize employers who don’t provide health care for their workers – with the exception of small businesses. Speaking on condition of anonymity, an aid said the cost of the bill would add up to a whopping $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
“We have no choice but to change the health care system because right now it’s broken for too many Americans,” Obama remarked in Michigan while discussing further spending for local community colleges. Bringing down the rising cost of health care, the president has said, is the top priority of his domestic policy.
A study published on Investors.com offers evidence that government involvement in medicine has provided a striking increase in the cost of medical services. “The results are clear,” the report said. “Since 1970 — even without the prescription drug benefit — Medicare’s costs have risen 34% more, per patient, than the combined costs of all health care in America apart from Medicare and Medicaid, the vast majority of which is purchased through the private sector.”
“Since 1970,” the report continued, “the per-patient costs of all health care apart from Medicare and Medicaid have risen from $364 to $7,119, while Medicare’s per-patient costs have risen from $368 to $9,634. Medicare’s costs have risen $2,511 more per patient.”
Republicans and business groups both oppose the measure, calling a reliance on government to provide health care a “job-killer”. Senate Republicans are steadfastly against the bill, leaving Senate leaders scrambling to find support for their version of the health care proposal and fearing a straight party-line vote.
Constitutionalists, small government advocates and freedom-loving Americans alike strongly oppose any government involvement in health care and point to the distinct absence of any Constitutional authorization that provides for government involvement in the business of medicine.
To combat the cost of health care, Libertarians want to give the taxpayer the option to deduct the costs of health insurance from their income taxes. Many also want to repeal health insurance mandates that force many Americans to pay for medical treatments that they will never use and do away with the piles of useless regulations that control what drugs make it to the market. Competition is key to lowering the cost of health care.
Obama challenged Congress to provide him with a health care proposal before their August recess begins. House committees will begin voting on the measure Thursday.
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