Healthcare in America

One of the biggest criticisms the Democrats have for other politicians is their lack of an answer. Republicans and Libertarians like myself both oppose Universal Healthcare (or Socialized Medicine), but the Republican Party does not offer any answers of its own, so instead people who want something done about it turn to a bad answer as opposed to no answer.

Unlike my beloved Republican Party, I have an answer. It may not be perfect, but no answer will be. One thing is for sure: It will not lower the quality of our medical care, raise taxes, or remove rights from American citizens.

Measure #1: Level The Playing Field

The FDA needs to be disbanded. They have done an immense amount of good for the Drug industry when it was created, but today their practices give unfair advantages to Drug companies over the American people. The best way to keep medicine safe, effective, and affordable is to level the playing field and let companies compete. If their product fails or is shown to be unsafe, they get class action lawsuits and lose their business. If they create reliable, safe, and affordable products they will make money.

Yes, this means that “Buyer Beware” is extremely relevant for the consumer. You would have to inform yourself carefully before consuming any medicine… which you should be doing anyway! Brand loyalty in medicine would drive businesses with good reputations and effective products to the top of the industry without unfairly excluding other companies that have fewer resources. The free market will create its own quality control.

Measure 2: Encourage Full-Time Employment

Employers that offer 100% of their full-time employees full health benefits will receive tax breaks. This encourages employers to provide group coverage for their employees and it encourages employees to work Full-Time consistently.

Measure 3: Encourage Good Health

American citizens will be allowed to deduct a portion of their Gym Memberships from their taxes. Employers who provide Gym Facilities will be able to deduct a portion of their cost from their taxes.

Restaraunts that serve healthy food will receive tax breaks. Produce will be nationally excluded or discounted from sales tax. Junk food will be slightly taxed to discourage excess.

Measure 4: Instilling Good Health in Youth

Public Schools will no longer be permitted to sell soft drinks, candy, or other unhealthy foods. These foods will be judged based on their nutrition information and not on a product to product basis to avoid corruption from special interests. Parents will have the final say in what their children eat outside school, but when the parents are not present, the children will not be given the opportunity to be unhealthy.

Public Schools will have standards of health. Students will be required to take and pass a physical education class every year of enrollment. Schools will be required to provide multiple options for this (join a sports team, aerobics, weight lifting, general multi-sport gym class, etc.).

Conclusion

The bottom line is that the health crisis in America is everyone’s responsibility. With socialized medicine, the taxpayers foot the bill. With free market medicine and small, strategic tax cuts we can steer ourselves in the right direction. Everyone must make sacrifices for the greater good of our country. Drug companies must compete instead of hiding behind the FDA and standing over smaller companies. Businesses should be nudged towards providing healthcare for full-time employees, but cannot be forced. American people need to pay attention to their own health and take measures to maintain health in themselves and their families.

It saddens me as an American that it has come down to this. As I have mentioned in earlier blogs, I believe it should be Domestic Policy to assume that every American adult is an intelligent and self-sustaining human being. As we know, that is not the current state of things and our government babysits us like a special education class. I believe it should be common sense that it’s not okay to be overweight. It’s not okay to be willfully unhealthy. What our special ed class needs is not government issued helmets. We need tough love and guidance.

As a Libertarian, my ideals are high and this blog has found me compromised a bit. This is not in my opinion an ideal situation, but these measures should work within the system we already have in place here without obstructing the rights of citizens or raising taxes.

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Update: 03/13/2018

Wow, I had some really innovative ideas here! Encourage employment? Encourage healthy habits? Holy shit dude. Way to think outside the box. And yea, let’s dismantle the FDA! I can just hire my own poison taster like a real American!