Healthcare and America part 2
Innovation & Government: Can they coexist?

Over the last decade I’ve gone from liberal democrat to center left libertarian. But when it comes to healthcare, I find nagging socialist ideas creeping into my brain. Maybe it’s because I shell out more than ten thousand dollars a year to insurance companies before ever stepping foot into a doctor’s office.
It’s easy to complain. In fact, it often seems like that’s all we do in this country. But I’d say this, enough already… Let’s look at some facts and figure out some solutions, that serve both citizens, and business interests.
First, we need to ask a simple question.
Is healthcare a right or a privilege?
Although not specifically stated in our constitution, it is my genuine belief that all tax-paying Americans should have access to healthcare. Getting into a car accident or being diagnosed with cancer should not bankrupt you. And ultimately, I want to live in a country that provides a core level of healthcare for all its citizens.
So, my next question… How do we do that while still encouraging innovation in the marketplace?
Well here’s a little fact that no one thinks about. Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid are the two largest social programs in the history of the world. (by cost) But coming in at number three and catching up fast… The U.S. Department of Defense. Completely taxpayer funded at an annual cost of between five and six hundred billion dollars a year.
Despite the graft, the no-bid contracts and the casualties, somehow our military and the technology that has emerged as a result has been quite innovative. That coming from a public private trust.

So, let’s go in, slash the fat, cut defense spending by 20 percent, clean up the waste in Medicare and move that money into a national healthcare system. A system that serves everyone and incentivizes employers to either opt-in or provide a better alternative.
The plan would be federally administered as a single payer system for those who opt-in, continue to use subcontractors to bid out certain services and force private insurance companies to compete with a national health system.
In the same way, many Americans view the military with pride and respect, we could view our new National Health Service in the same manner. Instead of volunteering for the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines, what if you could enlist for four years of service in the US healthcare system? In return for free training of nurses, orderlies and doctors who qualify… the first five years of your career you are bound to serve in the NHS for a reduced salary.
Detractors of this idea may be quick to point out that American companies sell the technology created by Defense contractors to other nations. And that’s true. But the vast majority of that money goes to a very select few. And often is used to purchase weapons and technology that are instruments of death. Wouldn’t it be better to be selling lifesaving technologies? Biotech?
The Libertarian in me is shocked, even angered even at my own suggestion. But I find it hard to find an alternative solution. State run universities didn’t ruin private colleges. Municipal police didn’t stop private security companies. The public-private partnership has to be re-envisioned and taken away from crony capitalism.
In a post Obamacare world, my premiums have skyrocketed. We have not been able to “keep our doctors.” Calling my provider is an endless array of phone menus and waiting on hold before ever speaking to a human. When I finally get through, I’m speaking to someone in a call center thousands of miles away, with no real medical expertise whatsoever. All this is the fix to what was ailing our system.
In some ways, when it comes to healthcare… it almost pays to be poor, or worse. Convicted felons have access to basic medical and dental care, paid for by the taxpayers.
We’re better than that. We’re smarter than that. And there has to be a way to bring costs down, provide basic coverage and foster innovation in medical technology. If we do, the future will be brighter for all Americans.