Is Dodd Ending Too Big to Fail? - Big Government

Good article on TBTF, but then there is this interesting comment, on healthcare which contains interesting, if obvious, points.

Representative John Hall
US House of Representatives

March 17, 2010

Dear Mr. Hall,

Well it comes to you. One man, one vote, the nation’s future on the line. I bet when you were doing drugs and singing “Your the One” for the one thousandth time you never thought you would end up in having to make this choice. Before you do please give me one moment of your time.

In the old days, prior to government intervention in the medical establishment, the “wealthy” paid higher prices at the doctors office to support the needy. My father would tell the story like this. A patient would drive up to a doctors office in a Cadillac and the doctor would treat him, and the doctor would give him a higher bill than he would give to other patients, sometimes a much higher bill. The doctor then would use that money to treat people in the community that needed assistance. As time went on the government put it’s nose into this practice and took the place of the doctors and the hospitals who engaged in this. The government entitlement programs began to divorce a doctors capability to obtain the funds to carry out charity work, and thus while the cost was leveled out the creation of a third party to pay and to dole out charity destroyed the capacity to self regulate or to engage in ones own community in a positive and very efficient manner.

Fast forward to today. I pay a monthly premium for my medical insurance. Even if I do not use the resources for decades, other than checkups and the like, I gain nothing from behaving wisely. Why? Because as much as the insurance company wants to create products that keep prices low, so they can cover more people and make a higher profit for the company, the government is telling these companies who to sell to, how much coverage is required, even the deductibles are dictated. In this manufactured environment of unlimited capacity and fixed supply, price must rise inexorably to meet the consumption of the goods and services offered, in this case medicine.

So what is the answer Mr. Hall? First you ought to vote no on this proposed legislation that would place the government in further control of what is left of the private healthcare industry. Second, you should get back to work creating a piece of legislation that unlocks the free markets power to drive down costs, and create supply and innovation that it has to a higher degree in this country than all others combined. Finally, please contemplate the concept of privacy. I know in this day and age people seem willing to abandon their anonymity and the freedom that that begets to ones soul, but they are misguided. I cannot conceive as anything more personal to ones life then the medical care they have or will receive - I do not want my care or the care of my family to become the purview of some bureaucrat in Washington D.C. I want my families care to remain between us and our doctors and nurses.

In closing, I am firmly aware, as you should be, that you are part of an institution whose record is not good. In the hundred or so odd Congress’s what does the Country have to show for your efforts? Trillions in debt and deficits. Blind monkeys who randomly hit the “yea” or “nay” button could have done a better job. But it is now up to you. Will you vote yes and commit this nation to bankruptcy, or will you vote no and then get right back to work crafting a solution to this mess?

Respectfully,