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Promoting
individual responsibility for health care
by Mary Lou Seymour
Whenever a group of freedom lovers and liberty advocates start
discussing living in a free society and how to get there from here,
the discussion invariably turns towards the problem of health care.
And, in the world outside the enclaves of freedom advocates, we are
bombarded with speeches from both branches of the BOYN party on
whether more taxpayer money should be used to support health care,
whether we should have a "single payer" system, how to "save"
Medicare, how to make sure the elderly get prescription drugs and
premature babies get life support.
Thirty or forty years ago, no one had "health insurance;" now, people
hold grimly on to jobs they despise lest they lose their health
insurance and are thrown on the mercy of the state. For libertarians,
too proud and too moral to willingly take a governmentt check or
government health care, the thought of being forced to accept state
paid "charity" is especially abominable. But sometimes the choice
really becomes "live free or die," and although that might be an
acceptable choice for an individual to make for himself, what if it's
your sick baby or elderly parent or beloved spouse, hmmm?
There are no easy answers; there is no easy way out. Unless a large
number of Americans stop letting politicians set the agenda and
manage to free themselves from the perceived need for government
involvement in health care, we will never live in a free society. The
chains of the perceived need for health care for ourselves and our
loved ones are too strong to be broken easily. And anyone who thinks
they are has never sat by the bedside of a sick child or dying parent.
But take heart! There are a few actions we can take, as individuals,
to free ourselves from these chains, and, encourage others to do so
also. Taking back our freedom, one step at a time, by promoting
various ways individuals can stop supporting government intrusion
into medical care.
A few weeks ago I was at a "Community Health Fair" and stopped by the
table that was promoting organ donation. The nice lady from the
kinder gentler side of the government was into her spiel about how
everyone should sign up on their drivers license to "recycle
themselves." I told her that I had always been a signed up organ
donor, but last year I'd joined this new organization, LifeSharers. I
explained to her that LifeSharers members promise to donate upon
their death, but they give fellow members first access to their
organs and tissue.
Predictably, she reacted in stunned dismay. "But that's so selfish"
she said. "You want to reserve your organs for only people in your
'network..' What if there was no one in your network who NEEDED your
kidney?" I explained that if no one in my network needed my kidney,
it would be "up for grabs" in the government sponsored donor program.
She mulled that one over and then said What if there was a CHILD
somewhere and your kidney went to an ADULT." I explained, nicely,
that even if it were possible for a child to get my adult size
kidney, it was MY kidney and I should get to decide who'd get it, and
it seemed fairer in my opinion, for someone who had also promised to
be an organ donor to have "first dibs." By promoting LifeSharers, it
gives people an incentive to be an organ donor and would increase the
number of organs available, and thus help everybody. To give her
credit, she did think about this for a moment, before turning to the
next potential donor at the table, and admitted that "I suppose it's
OK." OK? I think it's great!
Even if you are already a registered organ donor, you should join the
LifeSharers network. By doing so, you will have access to organs and
tissue that otherwise may not be available to you. (Membership in
LifeSharers is free, and brochures are available for download to help
publicize this important new venture.) As of May 31, 2003, about 1
year after it was founded, LifeSharers had 786 members. Joining
LifeSharers is one free, simple action YOU can take, to promote
individual responsibility AND increase the supply of organs.
As I mentioned earlier, 30 years ago no one had health insurance ...
and health care was pretty reasonable in those pre Medicare-Medicaid
days. But no more ... A doctor visit that cost $10.00 thirty years
ago costs $100.00 today. And incomes for the average Joe certainly
haven't risen by a comparable amount in the past 30 years.
SimpleCare is one example of a market-based solution to the rising
cost of health care. Participating doctors, labs, etc. voluntarily
lower their fees for SimpleCare patients who pay in full at the time
of service. SimpleCare is NOT designed to be a "discount" program. It
is a program that allows doctors to charge a fair and reasonable
price for their service, and be reimbursed in full at the time of
service, without incurring the high expense of billing and coding
associated with most insurance and third party contracts. The first
step, of course, is getting YOUR doctor signed up to participate in
SimpleCare -- or to find a new doctor who will.
Another possible action you can take is setting up a Medical Savings
Account in conjunction with a catastrophic health insurance policy.
An MSA is not one of those inflexible, use-it-or-lose-it accounts
offered by some employers, where you have to predict your health care
expenses for the year and run the risk of losing your money. A
contribution to an MSA is tax deductible and withdrawals used for
medical purposes are tax and penalty free. Any unused funds can roll
over to the next year. For information on how to set up an MSA, see
Americans for Free Choice in Medicine, for information on medical
savings accounts (MSAs), flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health
reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) see the National Center for Policy
Analysis article.
Another possibility for health insurance for those without benefits
on their jobs (or who'd dearly love to tell the boss to "take this
job and shove it" but don't dare because of the need for health
insurance) are Association Health Plans. AHPs are "plans created for
individuals and groups who belong to associations that are related to
jobs, careers, or hobbies and interests. The potential for growth of
this type of insurance is quite large -- given a favorable regulatory
climate. By uniting many small groups with similar interests across
the country,Westerfield says, AHPs could take full advantage of
economies of scale to lower health care costs for their memberships."
To reduce your dependence on doctors and hospitals, no home should be
without a selection of books on emergency health care and first aid;
my favorites are Where There Is No Doctor, Where There is No Dentist,
and the invaluable The Complete Idiot's Guide to First Aid Basics.
Ragnar Benson's Survivalist Medicine Chest brings you info on
doctoring humans with readily obtainable, cheaply priced vet meds
that are often identical to prescription drugs and cost only a
fraction as much. (And yes, I've used them.)
And finally, many health problems can possibly be prevented or
controlled by natural and holistic approaches. Check out the Doctor
Yourself website for information on how to take charge of your own
routine health care, and lower your dependence on "allopathic" (drug-
and surgery-oriented) medicine, get a copy of Back to Eden, the
classic guide to herbal medicine, natural foods and home remedies,
and Acupressure's Potent Points, to learn to perform acupressure on
yourself.
In our continuing activism to promote a culture where individual
liberty is the norm, let's concentrate our efforts this week on
individual responsibility for our own health care and freedom from
government dictates, as well as the decreased costs that will come
when the market rules medical care.
Til next week,
For Freedom
Mary Lou
PS: Check out the Liberty Activist Blog for Lux Lucre's contribution
for a logo for our new "disorganization of activists", C.L.A.W.
(Community Liberty Activist Whatever). Pretty cool huh? Feel free to
download the logo and put it to "whatever" use you wish!
PPS: Several new entries in the Liberty Activist Resource Directory,
to help you in your organizing and outreach efforts, our new resource
for LAotW donors of $15 or more. And a big thank you for those of you
who've continued to make this column possible through your donations
and support! What we can't do alone, we can do together!
PPS: Don't forget to check the Alternate Actions for this week, Kill
the Death Tax, 404.Freedom and E-the people! (All of the alternate
actions that are posted with weekly columns then are indexed in the
Resource Directory.)
=======================================
LifeSharers
http://www.lifesharers.com/
Simple Care
http://www.simplecare.com/
MSA's, FSA's, HRA's
http://www.ncpa.org/iss/hea/2003/pd013003a.html
Americans for Free Choice in Medicine
http://www.afcm.org/
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
http://www.aapsonline.org/
Association Health Plans
http://www.ncpa.org/iss/hea/2003/pd042403a.html
Where There Is No Doctor
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0942364155/libertarianselfr/104
-7977071-4032710
Where There is No Dentist
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0942364155/libertarianselfr/104
-7977071-4032710
Survivalist Medicine Chest
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0873642562/libertarianselfr/104
-7977071-4032710
The Complete Idiot's Guide to First Aid Basics (Complete Idiot's
Guides)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0028610997/libertarianselfr/104
-7977071-4032710
Doctor Yourself
http://doctoryourself.com/
Back to Eden :The Classic Guide to Herbal Medicine Natural Foods and
Home Since 1939
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0940985101/libertarianselfr
Acupressure's Potent Points by Michael Reed Galch.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0940985101/libertarianselfr
Liberty Activist Blog
http://22blog.com/libertyaction/
Liberty Activist Resource Directory (password protected)
http://22blog.com/libertyaction/
Alternate Actions for the week
http://www.rationalreview.com/archive/mls/mls062403.html
Liberty Action of the Week is edited by Mary Lou Seymour.
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