The Only Solution To America's Healthcare Woes

By Jacob G. Hornberger

When President Franklin Roosevelt revolutionized America’s economic system by enacting Social Security, he knew that it would be a permanent change. He knew that once he got people dependent on the system, he would have them. Sort of like how a heroin dealer feels about getting a new customer hooked on heroin.

That’s what President Obama and his acolytes were undoubtedly thinking about when they enacted Obamacare. Get it passed, get people dependent on it, and you have them. The program becomes permanent.

That’s what has now happened with Obamacare. With Republicans running scared for fear of adverse voter reaction if they follow through with their 8-year “Repeal Obamacare” mantra, the conservative movement to repeal Obamacare is now finished.

What now?

Trump is right. Under Obamacare, America’s healthcare system will continue to be a growing disaster. That’s because socialism is a disaster.

As the healthcare crisis grows, there will be increasing calls by the mainstream press for Republicans to join Democrats in a healthcare reform package designed to fix the crisis. But any healthcare reform package will only make the situation worse. When officials try to fix socialist programs, the situation only gets worse, which then causes officials to call for more reforms. The end of this road is a 100 percent socialist healthcare system, like in Cuba and North Korea.

Meanwhile, conservative commentators and conservative think tanks will continue to come up with their particular variations of conservative healthcare reforms. Why not? This racket has worked to garner support and money for the conservative movement for 8 years. Might as well keep it going.

But anyone who keeps going down the “Repeal Obamacare” or “Reform Obamacare” road is just wasting his time, energy, and money. That’s because all conservative and liberal healthcare reform plans leave intact the root cause of America’s healthcare crisis: Medicare and Medicaid.

That’s the important point in all this: If Medicare and Medicaid are left intact, America will continue to have a grave healthcare crisis. It can’t be avoided. These two programs are as socialistic as Social Security and Obamacare. They are the root cause of America’s healthcare woes.

Thus, to achieve a healthy healthcare system, there is but one solution: Get government entirely out of healthcare. Separate healthcare and the state. Adopt a 100 percent free-market healthcare system. Begin by repealing, not reforming, Medicare and Medicaid, along with Obamacare.
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There is no other solution. The problem, of course, is that so many people have become dependent on Medicare and Medicaid. That’s the lesson that President Lyndon Johnson, who brought us these two socialist programs, learned from his mentor, FDR. Put people on the dole and you have them permanently. The result is a socialist system that will only continue to get worse and worse.

This article was originally published at The Future of Freedom Foundation.