Did Ron Paul have by far the freshest and best idea for Health Care?

In these United States of America, one of the wealthiest countries on the planet, many people cannot afford even basic health insurance. They suffer severely under the present system and have to live under the constant fear of not knowing what they will do if they or their loved ones ever fall seriously ill.

But in many cases, insured individuals aren’t much better off either. In comparison to the exorbitant insurance premiums they pay, the medical care they receive is often very poor.

Additionally, due to the government-enforced monopolies of HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations) and pharmaceutical companies, many patients will never even hear about some of the most effective and non-invasive treatment methods. These natural and inexpensive ways of regaining one’s health are being suppressed by the FDA and the medical establishment not because of safety concerns (they’ve been around for hundreds of years), but because they cannot be patented and would therefore cut into the pharmaceutical industry’s profits.

The current system is most definitely broken, and it must eventually be abolished if we want regain both our health and our freedom.

Forced nationalization is the worst possible answer. To get elected, many politicians promise “free” medical care for everyone. But health care nationalization in European countries resulted in longer waiting periods, severe lack of choice, deterioration of health care quality, prohibition of alternative health treatments, higher taxes, and sadly (for some) permanent illness or death because they could not get the care they needed.

Also, a nationalized system is not “free” at all because someone has to pay for it. And why should anyone be forced to pay for someone else’s medical care? Very few decent people would personally assault their neighbors at gunpoint and steal thousands of dollars to pay for their own medical needs. How could any freedom loving person agree to delegate such criminal acts to the government by supporting a nationalized health care system?

There is only one solution that will lead to true health and true freedom: making health care more affordable. Ron Paul believes that only true free market competition will put pressure on the providers and force them to lower their costs to remain in business. Additionally, Ron Paul wants to change the tax code to allow individual Americans to fully deduct all health care costs from their taxes.

Through these measures and the elimination of government-sponsored health care monopolies a much larger number of people will be able to finally access affordable health care, either by paying for medical insurance or by covering their medical expenses, which are now much lower, out of their own pocket.

As for the poor and the severely ill who can neither obtain insurance nor pay for the medical care they need, Ron Paul offers the following solution in his book “The Revolution: A Manifesto“:

" In the days before Medicare and Medicaid, the poor and elderly were admitted to hospitals at the same rate they are now, and received good care. Before those programs came into existence, every physician understood that he or she had a responsibility towards the less fortunate and free medical care was the norm. Hardly anyone is aware of this today, since it doesn’t fit into the typical, by the script story of government rescuing us from a predatory private sector."

Illegal aliens already receive de-facto free health care. Why can’t poor Americans have the same… not as a right, but as a charitable benefit provided by doctors who feel a personal responsibility for their fellow citizens?

Unfortunately, the current medical monopoly corrupts many doctors by rewarding practices that are not in the patients’ best interest. Pharmaceutical companies have a vested interest in not curing people, but getting them permanently addicted to expensive drugs that have many side effects, thereby requiring additional drugs to suppress those side effects. Many doctors are afraid to speak up and question the system for fear of being ostracized by their peers or even losing their license.

Under a liberated health care system prices would come down and additional options would become available, thereby making health care much more affordable. Moral corruption would give way to true compassion, and many doctors would remember their implicit obligation to provide free medical care to those in need, just like they did in the past.

As a medical doctor, Ron Paul swore the Hippocratic Oath many decades ago. His entire person and career is a monument to the beauty and sanctity of human life. Ron Paul knows that life without health can be very difficult and is not what it was meant to be. He has personally cared for the poor for many years, without asking anything in return.

The government’s original role is to protect our freedoms and restrain itself from causing too much harm. Ron Paul is working to prevent greedy

2009-05-14T12:30:06Z

bureaucrats, opportunist politicians and corrupt pharmaceutical companies from having any sort of unhealthy influence over our bodies and minds.
Join the Ron Paul Revolution and help us put the government back where it belongs: to Washington DC and out of our daily lives

2009-05-14T12:30:20Z

source: www.ronpaul.com

2009-05-14T12:30:42Z

FYI, I did not write this. It's from above source.

Jill M2009-05-14T12:46:48Z

Favorite Answer

Yes, (I read it all) I admire Ron Paul and many of his ideas are fresh and exciting. I do not, however, feel he is an electable person. I felt the same way about another candidate that ran as a 3rd party a few yrs ago (Perot).

Both of these men 'should' have been President but with an unthinking, brainwashed by Liberal teachers public school educated electorate combined with a Media that has lost their values and do not report truth - there was and is no chance in my mind. But I also thought that Forbes and Romney should have been President, too.

I do think we should kick every politician out of office and elect from people that are successful in business, have a moral code and a work ethic, an understanding of economics and finance.

I don't see that happening.

What I see happening is America going to her knees with Obama's financial burden laid on her and his shaming of her world-wide, his price setting and socialization that is losing more jobs every day, then will come the fuel and food shortages, angry people out of work, food and fuel will riot. Then he can declare Martial Law and then he can move right in to the dictator seat or throne if Michelle prefers.

Be prepared. Good luck!

Anonymous2009-05-14T19:20:49Z

Freshest and best? Yes. Most surprising is that it's likely the oldest, as well. [the best ideas are like the best food: fresh and good because they grow naturally]

Cap'n T: Which is more naive?

A) To trust human beings under a free market (people acting free from unreasonable encumbrance of power hungry government), or,

B) To believe that a secretive, powerful cadre of equally corruptible human beings will, at the behest of some never-before-seen, unidentifiable force, discard all norms and temptations of mortality and act as guileless, faultless deities?

...

DAR2009-05-14T13:19:42Z

Yes, I do think so. It is the only plan that puts the patient, not the insurance company, in the driver's seat.

ATTENTION: Testicles That Is All2009-05-14T12:35:54Z

I agree 100% as does my mother who's a Ron Paul supporter and M.D.

Anonymous2009-05-14T12:35:41Z

There are some good ideas, for sure, in the source you list. I find it incredibly naive, however, to think that "free market" principles will fix the problems of greed and self-interest (in the case of doctors). Again, it sounds good on paper but not so much in reality.

Show more answers (2)