Hillary Care - Arnold Style!

Thank God Arnold Schwarzenegger is Constitutionally banned from running for President. After having spent the last few months catering to California's large population of illegal immigrants, he's now taking the policy a step further - he's decided to give them free Health Care! Of course, it's not just illegal aliens that Arnold thinks should get free Health Care, it's everyone! Yup, that's right, 'Universal Health Care' (a.k.a Socialized Medicine) is back and, sadly, this time it's a Republican proposing it. (Which genuinely begs the question: to what Political Party do America's actual Conservatives now belong?)

Arnold, like everyone else who believes in the fantasy of Socialized Health Care, is devoid of facts and economic reality. So let's examine a few components of Arnold's plan.

If you're going to provide people with Health Care, there is, of course, this little problem that you must, well, pay for such services; a problem Arnold tackles head on. First and foremost is the stupidest part of his plan: to "tax doctors 2% of their gross revenue and place a 4% tax on hospitals." Oh my, where to begin. First of all allow me to point out that this type of 'tax the Doctors and Hospitals' plan has already been tried in New Mexico. As a result of this plan, New Mexico has a very difficult time attracting new Doctors. Furthermore, many of the Doctors they already have are quick to move across the boarder to Texas where, just by crossing the State Line, they see their income jump about 10-15%. You know, if you're trying to get Health Care for "all Californians," instituting a plan which has been proven to reduce the number of Doctors you have, doesn't seem very bright. Because, ya know, those Doctors, they're pretty crucial to the whole 'Health Care' industry.

Also, let's not forget that taxing only the Doctors and Hospitals is, well, discriminatory; and while discrimination is a wonderful thing for policemen, airline baggage screeners and the CIA to base their work off of - it's no basis for a system of taxation.

One last observation on this point, and that is this: what exactly is accomplished by taxing the Doctors? In the end, isn't the money supposed to go to them? I mean, if you're poor, and you need money to help pay for your visits to the Doctor, why does the Government have to come in, take money from the Doctor, to give you, so you can go to the Doctor and then.....give the money back to the Doctor. Wait a minute! Why does the Government have to be the middle-man here??

I think my inner Libertarian may have just had a heart attack.

The plan doesn't get any better. Next up is the most hilarious line in all of Arnold's proposal; the one where he claims that, under the current system, those who do have Health insurance are paying a "hidden tax." Which naturally means we should eliminate it in favor of a real one. Duh! It's almost like he's saying 'You're already getting screwed - so now let's make it official! Yay!'

What a farce!

However, I must give credit where credit is due; there is a hidden tax for California tax payers. It's called the tort tax, and it's the real reason that Health Care in California is too expensive for 1 out of 5 Californians. Nevertheless, as we can see from the example of Texas, the way to eliminate this hidden tax is not to legitimize it, but to enact legal reform that will reduce it. Moreover, if we reduce the tort tax, and all of the frivolous lawsuits it represents, Doctors' insurance premiums will decrease, which will, in turn, allow Doctors to decrease the rates they charge their patients. That's how you make Health Care available to more people.

Here, of course, is the crux of the Socialized Care debate. The problem is very simple: the cost of Health Care services is too high for some people to afford. The Arnold solution is, let's not worry about the cost, let's just try to give people enough money to cover it. The Conservative solution to expensive Health Care is more logical - it simply aims to, surprise, lower the cost! Furthermore, in the Arnold solution, no attempt is made to increase the quality of the actual Health Care being administered; however, in the Conservative solution, by increasing market competition, the quality of the actual Health Care is likely to improve. Indeed, as evidenced by other Socialized medical systems around the world, the Arnold solution has the additional problem of decreasing the quality of the Health Care.

On top of all the Health Care concerns with Arnold's plan, there are some important buisness ones as well. Arnold wants to "ban insurers from refusing to offer coverage to some individuals because of their prior medical conditions;" a proposal which ignores any basic business sense. If insurance companies are going to be forced to cater to individuals who will loose them money, why would they want to be insurers in that particular market at all? Granted, California is a fairly large market, so the Governor may not have to deal with the consequences on this one.

A second part of Arnold's plan which ignores basic business sense, however, may prove more costly. He plans to mandate that all businesses "with 10 workers or more [buy] insurance for their workers or pay a fee of 4% of their payroll into a program to help provide coverage for the uninsured." Whoa! Speaking of hidden taxes, how about this hidden tax on private businesses? Look, it's been said before and I'll say it again, the services that businesses provide to their employees are up to those businesses! It's not an area that the Government should be involved in, period. If you are an employee and your company doesn't offer Health Insurance you have two options: a) Deal with it and have no Health Insurance, or b) Go work for a business that offers Health Insurance. Hopefully that's not too complex for Arnold to understand.

In the end, it comes down to the simple question of what does a better job of providing Americans with the best possible Health Care: the Free Market and the individuals who compose it or the Government? The answer should be obvious.

So I ask that before Arnold wrecks California Health Care, he take a step back and listen to, well, himself. From Arnold's speech as the 2004 Republican National Convention:

"...have faith in Free Enterprise, faith in the resourcefulness of the American people and faith in the U.S. economy."

Have faith indeed. In any case, it's a lot safer than having faith in the Government.