BY CONGRESSMAN CHARLES DJOU, R-HI (2010) – President Obama got it right in identifying the need to reform healthcare. The problem is the current legislation is too bureaucratic and fails to institute real reforms that will actually fix our problems with healthcare.
Earlier today the U.S. House voted to repeal the Partient Protection and Affordable Care Act with support from both Republicans and Democrats.
I favor legislation that would enact tort reform, expand the use of health savings accounts, allow the interstate sale of health insurance and give tax credits to those too wealthy for Medicaid, but not wealthy enough to purchase health insurance on their own. This is the right way to reform American healthcare.
Charles Djou is a former member of Congress and previously served on the Honolulu City Council and in the Hawaii State Legislature. He is a candidate for Hawaii’s first congressional district.
I have a problem with the definition of “Health” services and products. Actually, it is only when there is un-health, a sickness for which one looks to a doctor, witch-doctor (for lack of a better name), ‘family remedies’, and the like. So, bottom-line, how we define sickness is going to set the stage for a whole lot of arguing about what to do about it. I also have a problem with the health industries becoming monopolies – something looked down upon, or totally illegal in America for other industries, but it doesn’t seem to stop the American Medical Association from calling the shots. Also, as technology changes the relationship between a patient and the medical treatments available becomes more and more complex. I believe the patient should fundamentally be able to decide his own medical risks, instead of a doctor deciding for the patient. After all, it is the patient who is donating the body for the potentially effective treatment. Also, as pharmaceuticals become more and more numerous, the interaction of prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs in the patient’s body can become too complex even for doctors to sort out. What we eat, and what we lack in our nutrition is another factor on top of that. That’s why a relationship between a well-paid doctor and the patient is important. Such relationship is not possible if people charge non-health services and items to their medical insurance plan – like lobotomies, like breast implants, and other maladies which can be relieved by plain pure exercise and stopping to smell the roses. Why should i pay insurance premiums which cover the genetic diseases of other people? That’s like going to Las Vegas and deciding to gamble against the casino’s management, with their LOADED dice.
Comments are closed.