HEALTH CARE and PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

By James E. Hill

Before we made a Federal Case out of health care, insurance was widely available and costs were reasonable. What happened?

The first obstacle is the Food and Drug Administration which writes endless regulations that increase the cost of medicines, keeps lifesaving drugs off the market for years and contributes to making insurance unaffordable. Other government regulations on virtually all aspects of medical care and insurance drive up the cost and force us to pay for things we don't need. Why do we have to see ads telling us the same drugs are available from Canada at half the price? Why can we go to Mexico and get the same items by the same producers for 10% as much as here? The crushing Federal bureaucracy is the reason. All these regulatory agencies should be abolished. Safety can be assured by independent private laboratories much faster at a fraction of the cost.

The second obstacle is out of control litigation. Self serving politicians, most of whom are lawyers, have divided us against ourselves. Doctors are afraid to practice due to the fear of being sued and the outrageously high amounts given in ever increasing numbers of lawsuits. High percentages of these awards go directly to the attorneys, not even the victims! Each time these awards are made, insurance costs rise. Even if the doctors win the suit, the lawyers must be paid and insurance costs rise. Lawyer politicians, in an inexcusable conflict of interest, refuse to push for tort reform blaming the medical profession instead. Reform of the adversarial legal system set up by self serving politicians is a prerequisite to achieving available and affordable health care. We cannot allow our families' health to be a pawn of politicians and attorneys. We must work to get the government out of health care entirely.