Addicted to Bad Medicine
Go to the doctor with a new complaint and one of the first things the doctor asks is what medicines you are taking. Many ailments are caused by medications, so doctors know where to look first.
For some reason, Americans concerned about our sickest patient, the medical care system, tend not to respond in kind. Yes, our health care is severely messed up. But before we start prescribing new cures, we should look at the current ones not working.
Take medical insurance. That’s how many Americans pay for the bulk of their medical care. But in every state of the union, medical insurance is regulated. In some, it’s heavily, heavily regulated.
Oregon legislators, for instance, just added a few new mandatory benefits to all health insurance policies: contraceptives, proesthetics and orthotics, and treatments for injuries caused by intoxication.
So now, if you are married and want children, or remain celibate, you are lumped in with those who aren’t, and can expect to be placed in their risk category. And if you don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t take psychoactive drugs, you are placed in a category with drunkards, meth abusers, and opium eaters.
Before these benefits were mandated, Oregon had supported 33 other mandatory benefits.
Do you really wonder why health insurance costs so much? I don’t.
The American health care system is addicted to regulation. Our legislators are the pushers. We need to go cold turkey.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
