Here’s Why Christians Don’t Want Government Health Care
We can do a better job taking care of people than the government does. It is that simple. I was reading something the other day, and the argument the guy was making is that lots of Christians are Republicans so we should be in favor of health care. “We are helping lots of people by giving them free health care, if you were really a Christian you would be for government health care.”
Well, I am a Christian, but I am not for government health care. You know why? Because I think I can do a better job helping people with my money than the government can. The government waste so much money it is unbelievable. They actually spend more money on the bureaucracy and paperwork of reimbursing travel expenses in a year, than they do on the travel expenses. And the number is in the billions. Efficiency at its finest. That is pathetic.
Every government program is fraught with waste. Each of the entitlement programs we have make people lazier and lazier. If I can get the government to take care of me, what is the point of actually working and being productive myself. These entitlement programs aren’t “helping” anybody. They are just making people wards of the state.
So no, I do not want government health care. I do want to help people though, and so I give money to people who are doing real good in this world. People who are going on mission trips to Haiti to help ease the suffering. My church that feeds homeless people and reaches out to prisoners and drug addicts. These are good uses of my money. They waste far less and do much more good than the government does.
Here’s a little graphic to prove my point. It ranks states by their “generosity index” of each of the states, and next to it who they voted for in the Bush - Kerry election. The generosity index compares average charitable giving to average gross income.
Do you see a trend? That is why Christians can say they don’t want government health care and not be hypocrites. If you are really concerned about helping people, go and help people. Don’t try to make the government do it, because they are really bad at it.
While you are most probably correct that individuals are going to be more efficient than the government, how could you ever ensure that people received the treatment that they need based on the good will financing of individuals? The generosity index that you cite does indicate that money is being donated, but the question is to which causes? If the states you highlight have a higher percentage of religious involvement, their funding could simply be going toward keeping the churches in tip top shape and church outreach projects to increase the number of followers. There is no direct translation to health funding simply from that chart.
While I agree that the charitable giving isn’t necessarily going to health funding, the point is the government is full of waste. It is also an entitlement program that we simply don’t have the money for. While giving everyone health care is a noble goal for sure, in practice it just doesn’t work.
Our current system, while it has its problems, is the best in the world. Other countries have tried and failed with socialistic health care, what makes anyone think it will work here? Our system is the best in the world because of the free market. If you take that away it will not be the best in the world anymore.
If we can do so much better than an impersonal bureaucracy, why do so many Christians want insurance?
The Amish handle their health care costs through charitable giving, and in fact, for that reason, they are exempt from the new law.
This isn’t socialistic health care. This is a law requiring you to insure yourself, so that you don’t end up costing the rest of us a bundle when you file bankruptcy, or you refuse to pay your emergency room bill.
That’s not to say that charitable giving isn’t powerful. That’s why we pay for the Interstate Highway System by selling cookies door to door, and pay for our wars by running telethons.
I’m actually not quite as opposed to the mandatory health insurance as most conservatives. I agree that paying for the emergency room costs sucks. However, it does concern me in 2 ways. First, I’m not really sure it is constitutional. Second, I think this is just a stepping stone to socialistic health care. It was far too big a jump for them to pull off here, but once we are at this point it would be much easier in the future.
The real problem for me is that this creates another entitlement system. You think paying for emergency room visits for uninsured people is bad, wait until they are all covered under government subsidies. Check this out to see what I’m referring to - http://geekpolitics.com/9-patients-6-years-2700-emergency-room-visits/
You need to actually read the law. (It’s not 2000+ pages like Boehner was claiming, it’s only 906 pages.)
You’re right; demanding that people buy insurance may not be constitutional. States get around that with auto insurance by allowing people to self-insure. For instance, in Pennsylvania, if you don’t want to buy auto insurance, you can post $50,000 cash with PennDOT to guarantee payment instead of buying insurance. I think there should be an option that someone post a cash bond with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to cover any medical expenses that might crop up. I suppose $5 million might be adequate.
I’m a conservative from way back. There weren’t many of us supporting Barry in 1964. I’m very much in favor of people having the entitlement of paying their own health insurance costs. And we already have socialistic health care; it’s called Medicare. I’ve been on it for 14 years now, and I find doctors love it.
With private insurance, they’re not sure what’s covered and what isn’t, and they keep having to submit forms over and over because the insurance companies employ giant staffs organized to delay and/or deny payments. I had group health before under a number of companies - Lincoln, Aetna, Banker’s Life, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, HealthGuard - and without exception, it was a pain in the butt to deal with them.
A conservative sticks with what’s working, and avoids fixing what isn’t broken. Private health insurance is broken, and Medicare isn’t. We should have just lowered the age for Medicare to birth, charging the folks under 65 an unsubsidized rate.
I agree that it is broken for sure, but Medicare is bankrupt as soon as the baby boomers retire in force in a few years. It may have worked out nicely for you, that doesn’t mean it is sustainable and it certainly doesn’t mean it is scalable to everyone.
Remember, all those under 65 people are already paying for your Medicare. Just like Social Security, it is a Ponzi Scheme. We are paying now in hopes that some poor schmuck will pay us when we get old. Actually I’m paying now because I’m forced to, but you get the point.
Good to see south carolina, mississippi, and louisiana so high on that list. they are about the most UNHEALTHY states in the union. so much for the church charity. Isn’t that was Eric Cantor said to a lady in a town hall? if the medical bills get you into a home foreclosure situation, the suggestion from Mr. Cantor would be to ask your neighbours and church for some help? dignified.
I want the government to butt out of business and our lives. I don’t need them to make laws telling me to wear my seat belt, or wear helmets when I ride a bicycle…. I’m a grown up, I’m not stupid. I can make these decisions myself. Personal responsibility. I certainly don’t want them telling me where and when I can see a doctor, or what procedures I can or cant get. Anyone that trusts the federal government is naive. I want lower taxes, not higher taxes. Obama is taxing everything on this planet. It’s his war on prosperity. The democrats are out to destroy everything that is American.
http://republicanleader.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=131578
great site btw. I will bookmark it.
I have not seen that private enterprize has done such a marvelous job of taking care of health care for the citizens of the US. If Insurance companies had done what they are supposed to do, take care of the medical issues based on a reasonable premium and a reasonable profit for the company, all would be probably well. But private insurance companies never seem to have enough profit. So they have forced the government to step in. If the blame goes anywhere it is squarely on the insurance companies.