The Medical Freedom Channel

“The following are policy recommendations of the Consensus Group. These recommendations and the principles upon which they are based can provide a powerful guide for the policymaking process in achieving important goals of health care reform. They are not intended to provide a complete blueprint for reform, and reasonable men and women may differ over the details of how they should be implemented. We believe that following these recommendations will lead to a system in which costs will be restrained, private insurance coverage will expand rather than continue to contract, and quality will be enhanced primarily through additional competition and better consumer incentives.” (04/01/2001)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=701

“[This article describes the Consensus Group’s vision for consumer-driven healthcare reform, based upon tax reform.] “The United States does not have a properly functioning market for healthcare, and the financing system needs to be reformed. The market is distorted by a tax policy that is mistargeted, miscalibrated, and open-ended. This tax policy provides generous benefits to those who have higher incomes and receive health insurance through the workplace. Yet it offers little or no assistance to those at the lower end of the income scale. Particularly at a disadvantage in the current system are those who fall through the cracks between this tax subsidy and Medicaid. Reforming the tax treatment of health insurance is essential to creating a more efficient and equitable market for medical services and health insurance in the United States. Correcting the tax distortion would lower the costs of health insurance coverage in both the public and private sectors and thereby allow broader access to quality healthcare. ” [editor’s note: A piece from 6+ years ago, outlining where we are still trying to go today. Part 2 will appear here next week.] (03/01/2001)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=728

“Questions still swirl around the HPV vaccine a year after it was introduced and as the market awaits a second product. But if the public-health dialogue makes one thing clear, it’s that more women at risk of cervical cancer should get Pap tests. A little more than a year ago, the nation’s first vaccine against some human papillomavirus (HPV) infections was released. This medical progress against cervical cancer got swept up by fear-based marketing that helped to generate premature calls for government mandates. ‘You could become one less life affected by cervical cancer’ is the mantra in most of Merck’s ads for its vaccine, called Gardasil. The ubiquitous marketing campaign may leave viewers thinking that cervical cancer is more prevalent than it really is. Merck also lobbied behind the scenes to make its vaccine mandatory for school-age girls, quietly funding groups such as Women in Government that promoted mandatory vaccination bills in state legislatures. Such a mandate, if passed quickly, would have increased the firm’s sales before a competitor’s product — soon to hit the market — was available.” (09/05/07)

http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3303/context/archive

“Europeans are now learning some hard facts of life about socialized medicine: There’s no such thing as a free lunch. The question is whether Congress will learn from Europe’s mistakes as it takes the next steps in reforming the American healthcare system. For many years advocates of government-run health care pointed to Europe as an ideal, noting America was the ‘only industrialized country without a national healthcare system.’ Now, however, the European welfare states are slashing benefits in the face of rising healthcare costs…. The Europeans have run into a very simple economic rule. If something is perceived as free, people will consume more of it than they would if they had to pay for it. Think of it this way: If food were free, would you eat hamburger or steak? At the same time, healthcare is a finite good. There are only so many doctors, so many hospital beds, and so much technology. If people over-consume those resources, it drives up the cost of healthcare.” [editor’s note: And these lessons are still not be heeded - SAT] (09/23/1996, republished 09/01/2003)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=12773

“1. States should make sure consumers have ready access to health education and consumer information. A patient power approach works only when consumers have access to sufficient information to make intelligent choices. State health education programs (including high school curricula) should emphasize personal responsibility for important lifestyle choices…. 2. States should roll back costly health insurance mandates. Currently the 50 states enforce more than 1,500 mandates on insurance policies, covering such matters as pregnancy, mental healthy parity, substance abuse, and acupuncture. Consumers ought to be allowed to buy low-cost basic policies, and add riders for additional coverage, just as they do with auto insurance…. 3. States should allow the sale of low-cost basic coverage insurance policies that do not include cost-inflating mandates. …” (03/01/2003)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=11628

“The Clinton administration’s plan for universal healthcare never was about ‘the greater social good’ or ‘doing the people’s business.’ It was about elimination of the private insurance sector—from the corporate boardroom to the insurance broker in the field. All would be eliminated in favor of one insurance agent: the government. The ill-fated Clinton proposal was a plan for compulsory enrollment, compulsory health insurance taxes paid by employers, increased public taxation, and means-tested premiums. It was about the elimination of private medical care—from the doctor’s office to the drug store. Every healthcare move you made — from your doctor’s appointment to your mastectomy to your Viagra purchase — would be under government control and recorded in a government databank.” [editor’s note: This perspective from over five years ago, nearly a decade after HillaryCare I was put forth, is instructive for its predictions of the next likely scheme - SAT] (01/01/2002 —

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=10379

“A few years ago, I was loath to get involved in politics, as if it were a dirty word! Well, that was then. This izs now. Today, there are many issues that capture my attention, and I am becoming more politically savvy. What got me interested? Healthcare! Healthcare is a hot topic these days. Pharmaceutical companies and the medical community zealously vie for our consumer dollars. Why this elaborate courting ritual? People’s interest in how complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) can help them create and maintain their health has grown rapidly over the last ten years. According to the National Institute of Health, between 1990 and 1997 the number of adults reporting use of CAM increased from 60 to 83 million while the use of traditional medicines remained stationary. CAM includes, but is not limited to, homeopathy, hypnosis, herbal therapies, exercise/movement, vitamins, relaxation methods, lifestyle, diet, imagery, energy healing, biofeedback and folk remedies. CAM may be used with allopathic medical care or used as an alternative, such as massage instead of a sleeping pill, hypnotherapy instead of a nicotine patch, or homeopathy instead of antihistamines. In short, there is money to be made.” (issue of 04/05, 2003)

http://tinyurl.com/yrcy2j

“Debate is underway within politically conservative circles between those who think people should be forced to buy health insurance coverage and those who think freedom includes the liberty to go without health insurance. The latest example is a point-counterpoint between Merrill Matthews, executive director of the Council for Affordable Health Insurance (CAHI), and The Heritage Foundation’s Bob Moffit. I know and respect both gentlemen, so it distresses me that the old “divide and conquer” strategy is working so well. This debate is part of a long-standing dispute between Heritage and the rest of the free-market community.” [editor’s note” This one slipped past us in realtime, so is listed here to reach the database - SAT] (08/01/07)

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=21749

“Forty million Americans are said to have no health insurance. Those who do have health insurance are frustrated by having to pay ever-increasing premiums for steadily diminishing medical services. Conventional wisdom tells us that we are facing a ‘health insurance crisis.’ It is important to recognize that what we call ‘health insurance’ has little to do with health and nothing to do with insurance.” [editor’s note: The “40 million” figure has also recently been debunked, by John Stossell using U.S. Census data - SAT] (written 05/03; posted 09/03/07)

http://tinyurl.com/yvubw5

“Many people rush to doctors at the first sign of an abnormality. If something’s wrong, there’s got to be a medicine out there to fix it, right? Sleep problems are cured with a sleep aid. Stimulants are taken to stay awake. Many college students are on antidepressants or anxiety medicine because they’re unhappy. Starbucks has groupies addicted to caffeine. Many college students turn to smoking, alcohol or drugs to cope with stress, school and other problems. According to the American Heart Association, these, along with many other issues, can be solved, or at least improved, with exercise. You can manage your weight, sleep better, have a better self-image, release tension and stress, and enjoy other benefits with exercise. Why search for the next best drug to keep you going when you can get all of these health benefits simply by exercising?” (08/06)

http://healthtruthrevealed.com/full-page.php?id=24&&page=article