Why the Current Healthcare Bill Must Not Become Law

The current healthcare bill is a massive, contrived, dysfunctional political document that has very little to do with reforming the parts of our health care system that need fixed. A bill like this would achieve very little toward the issues it purports to address. And it would create a lot of bad. A lot of bureaucracy. Intrusions and expenses.

We must start over. Here's why:

The current bill attempts to win the war in one fell swoop. And believe me, everything the bill takes on, makes it a campaign of unprecedented breadth and scope. It's like World War III, with an enemy that is as vague and undefined as the war on terrorism. (Which, by the way, is being fought in small battles all over the world.)

Wars are won battle-by-battle and any leader who has tried to take on a massive foe in one great effort has failed. You can't do it all at once.

We need many separate pieces of legislation that are fairly simple and segmented -- taking on each major issue by itself in a clear, direct way; unencumbered with political favors, earmarks and special interest dispensation.

Divide and conquer.

Medicare now loses something close to $150 million PER DAY to waste, fraud and abuse. Ok, fix it.

Poor people need more healthcare options. Many states and counties have got a very good handle on the problem for those who seek care. Embrace solutions that are working, and support them with federal money. Help them to evolve into better solutions -- through changes in regulation and federal funding -- and help them to be adopted by other states. We can't force people to seek care. We can't force people to eat (much less eat right) or drink water, much less force them to buy insurance. Some people just don't take care of themselves. Perhaps you've noticed this. You cannot legislate it. And we should not make buying insurance like paying taxes.

Health insurance for pre existing conditions is different according to where you live. Some places do it without running the insurance company bankrupt. They use high-risk pools and other programs. If it works, adopt it. Support it. Incentivize innovation to make it better.

Drug and device companies need profits to keep driving innovation that keeps us alive longer and better. Meanwhile, they set prices like airlines, as a moving target all over the place. Smooth it out.

There are not enough primary care physicians. Not enough family doctors and internal medicine people. We actually need more medical schools -- and more kids that qualify. That's a big problem. But you can make it more desirable to be a family doctor with incentives. Many people want to be a family doctor, but cannot afford to be one by the time they get out of medical school with their average of $150,000 in school loans. It's a big mortgage. I don't know the answer, but it is as important to healthcare improvement (or reform if you want to call it that) as any of the other factors in this current piece of legislation.

Divide and conquer the problems of this country -- whether healthcare, high unemployment, immigration or energy needs.

Take each major problem by itself. Break it into pieces that can be tangibly defined and addressed. Look at what is working well for some states, and help states do it better. Spread it from one state to the next.

Forget this ridiculous, massive bill that is an embarrassment. It will not do what it claims. It will make things worse. It was achieved only through multiple abuses of what is otherwise an excellent system of government in this great country of ours.

I heard some conservative radio guy the other day saying America wants big, sweeping, changes. No we don't. We want the broken things fixed. We want new belts and hoses. Otherwise, the car and the engine is just fine. (85% of Americans are happy with their healthcare.)

Fix it, piece by piece. Yeah, it's a lot of work. But that's how big things get done. And that's how big wars get won. Big work on small things. Not small work on big things.