Liberals keep saying that Republicans don’t have a plan, but there is a plan! Republicans want to allow for interstate competition among health insurance companies. Current laws protect insurance companies from outside of state competition and that has lead to higher premiums and health care that falls below its full potential.

Also, Republicans want to get rid of regulation that in some states force insurance companies to pay for abortion, sex changes and fly by night diet plans. Get rid of these radical ideas and allow insurance companies to provide coverage for only the basics, to start off with, and the free market, through competition, will take care of the rest. If a health insurance company wants to stay competitive, they will, eventually, pay for the less necessary procedures or programs. But they must be allowed to do it on their own, when they see it to be profitable, otherwise, we will continue to see premiums go up.

Republicans, also, want individuals to pay only for what is really necessary in health coverage; such as, paying into a plan that only includes coverage for the more important things, like treatments for cancer, for example. Forcing individuals, or companies, to pay into a plan that covers just about everything is unnecessary and expensive. Would you buy full coverage for a car that is forty years old and has about a million miles? Of course not! It wouldn’t make sense too. While aging people may need more coverage, young people usually don’t. For most young people, it would not make sense to pay for full coverage. And forcing them to would only cause many of them to find ways to self exclude themselves from any coverage which can also cause the taxpayer money since people without coverage usually seek the Emergency Room. So, it is important to give consumers a choice. Let the American people decide how much coverage they want to pay for; this is supposed to be a free country, after all.

A huge benefit of keeping health insurance in the realm of the free market is that it will not cost the American tax payer a cent. In contrast, the current administrations plan will end up costing the American tax payer trillions of dollars. Part of the reason it will be so expensive is because the Democrats want to force insurance companies to pay for preexisting conditions. Insurance companies exist to make money, they gamble on the possibility that you will never lose that which you buy their insurance coverage for; they make their money when you pay your insurance premium. If you suffer a loss for the covered item, they have to pay and in the process they lose that money. So, does it make sense for an insurance company offering flood insurance, for example, to cover a home that has preexisting damage due to a flood. NO! They would only lose money. When they do lose money, they remedy that problem by raising premiums to make up for the losses.

But, the free market has something to remedy the problem of preexisting conditions. It’s called charity! I consider it unethical, and not to mention Un-American, to be forced to pay for the preexisting conditions of someone I don’t know, and don’t care for. Let me decide when I want to be compassionate. And, in the process the American tax payer makes a percentage of what I give to a charitable organization. And, I also get to claim the act of charity on my taxes. It’s a win, win, situation for everyone!

Even though it passed in the House, kill it piece by piece in the Senate through the amendment process and then in the courts! Let’s keep our health insurance free from government intervention! Contact your representative and continue the pressure!

Edgar Rivas (LACYR)