Why health care reform bothers me

There are lots of reasons I liked President Barack Obama’s health care reform legislation.

I liked the fact it made health insurance available to a lot of people who ordinarily couldn’t afford.

I like the fact it prevented insurance providers from precluding coverage of pre-existing conditions.

I liked the fact it also placed increased emphasis on preventive care, such as requiring health care plans to cover wellness exams.

And as a consumer, and small business plan, I loved the promise of lower costs for everyone.

As I have lamented in the past, that’s a promise that hasn’t held true, at least not yet and depending on who you listen to, maybe ever.

But looking past that, I’ve found a more philosophical objection to the health care legislation, although I’m pretty sure I simply was overlooking it from the start.

In the lastest installment of Congressional wrangling over President Obama’s expansive reform bill, lawmakers are debating whether insurance providers and employers should be required to pay for birth control, up to and including all co-pays.

The battle lines are obvious on this one. You have the pro-lifers on one side, decrying this as religious persecution while providing the liberal left an opportunity to fund and advance Planned Parenthood’s agenda.

Meanwhile, Democrats and supporters of the measure point out the health benefits of increased access to contraceptives, complete with countless stories of women who suffered needlessly due to its unavailability.

But personally, my problem with this has nothing to do with religion, Planned Parenthood, or anything contrary to the women’s health arguments. It has everything to do with free enterprise.

Maybe I’m becoming more conservative in my old age, but I’m just not comfortable with the government telling private businesses how to run their companies.

Health insurance is, for now, offered privately, and as such, components of that product should be consumer driven.

I remember a time when fast food restaurants charged you every time for a refill. Then sometime when I was in high school, one of them decided to give away the extra soda. Soon thereafter, they all followed suit, and now, consumers expect it.

Maybe I’m oversimplifying this, but if having a health insurance plan out there that covers birth control is that important, consumers will demand that as well. Providers then, at least the ones who want their insurance plans to appeal to the largest market and as such, make the most money, will respond accordingly.

However, I recognize my own hypocriscy with that statement. I previously stated I liked the fact health care plans now had to include aspects of preventive care while covering pre-existing conditions. But those are being forced upon private companies, and as such, are being blamed for the increase in costs.

Perhaps the health insurance industry is so needed and powerful they can dictate their own terms and basically tell the consumer to take it or leave it, justifying the government’s meddling on some issues.

And I have no issues with government sponsored health care providing contraceptives.  

But at some point, if the government tells private businesses how to run their company, they really aren’t private anymore.

Gregory Orear is the General Manager/Editor of the Red Oak Express. He can be contacted at publisher@redoakexpress.com.