An open letter to President Obama

Mr. Obama:

So you want to force all Americans to buy health insurance, regardless of whether or not they want it, and help families who make less than $88K a year to pay for the premiums.

This idea hasn't worked in Massachusetts, not one bit. Once the mandate came down, plenty of Bay Staters got themselves insured -- but that didn't mean they got access to care. By government fiat, hundreds of thousands of people became insured -- but government fiat couldn't magically create all the doctors it would take to see all those new patients. So now Massachusetts residents face months of waiting to see a physician. How would your plan do anything but explode the same problem to a national scale, Mr. President?

This idea won't work for me or any of the other young, healthy Americans who take care of ourselves. You want insurers to quit charging more to the chronically ill. All that means is that we, the chronically healthy, are going to have to foot the bill for their care. I'm not interested in making that sacrifice. I suppose you think that's selfish of me, and that I should "do my part" to help others. Yes, it is selfish of me -- but unlike you, I know that selfishness is a virtue.

This idea won't work for insurers, whom you are going to force to provide ever-increasing coverage based on whatever lobbyist group wants to sell more of their goods and services. They will have to raise their prices to offer more comprehensive coverage, which will strain consumers' budgets -- or else they'll go out of business, as patients flee to the government insurance program you're likely to create. (And if you don't create one right away, voters will clamor for one, and you'll say yes.)

And oh, boy, is this idea not going to work for us taxpayers. Even if we don't create a government insurance plan right away, those of us who make more than $88K a year are going to start paying for the premiums of those who don't. Don't fool yourself that just asking for "a little more" from those who make $250K or more will solve the problem. As my fiance puts it, "there aren't enough millionaires for you to eat." Not to mention that...oh, yes, those supposedly evil rich people have a right to their money. And, of course, if you create a government insurance plan, who's going to pay when the premiums inevitably don't cover the costs of care?

Making Americans buy health insurance as a government mandate, rather than letting us decide freely whether or not we can afford it, will be a disaster. Don't go there, Mr. President.

Not your comrade,
Stella Daily