LIBERTARIAN VIEWPOINT

The new Medicare discount drug cards went on sale this week, which brought the entire embarrassing debate of earlier this year back to mind. Many people in this country think we should have a government run health care system that covers everybody. But, of course, we already have government plans that cover an enormous number of people. Medicare had just over 40 million subscribers in 2002, and Medicaid (a mixed Federal/State program) added another 40 million. Toss in children's' programs (CHIPS) and the VA system, and you start to wonder that there is a private system at all. I don't have the figures in front of me, but I believe that the Federal government pays about 60% of total medical expenditures.

(As an aside here, if you have private insurance now, would you voluntarily choose to switch to one of these government plans? Hold that thought).

If you watched any of the debates over the prescription entitlement, you may have had the same negative feeling I did. The Republican plan initially intended to introduce markets into the system, and cover only those who needed help. The Democrats would have none of it. They wanted all or nothing. It was a real free wheeling debate. Who should be included, what should the premiums be, what would employers (who cover many retirees now) do? All that was missing was any indication that they were in effect debating peoples lives. In the end, they settled on a compromise that absolutely no one liked - seniors included - but that will still cost us 50 odd BILLION a year.

Compromise is the name of the game in Washington, isn't it. Everyone knows that the medicare system is going broke. The unfunded liabilities approach 25 trillion (yes, with a T), and that is after the games they play with cost shifting to hide the real extent of the problem. The new drug part adds 6 - 12 trillion to the unfunded amount, depending on using whether you use Senate or House numbers. These are almost imaginary numbers however; projections about medicare costs have always been massively understated. The program when set up was supposed to be costing 12 billion a year by 1990 (ie, in 23 years), but it hit that figure in only 7 years. By 1990 it was costing 107 billion a year. Some underestimate! By the way, 'unfunded liability' means money that is promised to be spent, but that won't be there unless something is changed big time.

How good is our biggest government program? Before Medicare, there was private insurance available for seniors (Harry Browne has written on this.) The excuse for Medicare was that seniors needed protection from catastrophic expenses. That was really all there was to it. We have had Medicare for 40 years now. You can not refuse to enroll in Medicare unless you also forgo your Social Security benefits, (didn't know that, did you?), so it has driven private insurance out of the picture. It still does NOT include catastrophic coverage (unless you count falling into the Medicaid system after you are broke). It hasn't covered drugs until today.

It is a bloated and complicated system that drives physicians away. It has criminal sanctions for a physician that treats someone eligible for medicare for cash if he bills any patient through medicare (that is, you are not allowed to pay your doctor extra for special treatment or something not covered). It refuses to pay what things actually cost. It has all sorts of complicated limitations on what will be covered. It forces people to go to the hospital to get care that wouldn't be covered if done (more cheaply) in a doctor's office. Fraud is rampant. And on and on.

In my opinion, there are two reasons that Medicare has so many problems. The first, as any Libertarian can guess, is simply that almost anything the Federal government does ends up as a bloated, ineffective, and impossible to change bureaucracy. The other, more important to this discussion, is that every decision Congress makes about Medicare is political.

Do we really want our health care to be a political football? Do we want plans to come and go based on the latest election? Do we want all new medical technology to be forbidden until someone passes a law to cover it? Do you want your doctor forced on you because only a handful will still accept the medicare reimbursement rates? Do you want to be forced into HMO plans that are guaranteed by the rules to fail and go away? Do you want your level of care determined by this year's deficit?

Maybe Medicare could be fixed, but it will require some of our elected officials to develop a time horizon longer than the next election. We have the potential in this country to have fabulous medical care available to everyone. I predict it will never happen unless we get the government out of it.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The 'Libertarian Discussion Group' has been cancelled due to the Mother's Day conflict (difficult to get restaurant space).

Due to a conflict with the national convention, the state board meeting has been moved forward one week to May 22.

Ever want to edit a newspaper? Maybe just one issue? See the Help Wanted section.

Sign up for party announcements at YAHOOGROUPS.COM The list name is LPD-Announce

LP DE IN THE NEWS

Did you make news this month? Let us know. Send any 'Letters to the Editor' (LTTE) or articles you have published to Tom Uffner (tom@uffner.com) to post on the web site. Include where and when, and copy me to be listed here.

Bill Morris: Community News: "National sales tax a fair alternative" (LTTE)

There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences. --P.J. O'Rourke (1993)

RESOURCES

The CATO Institute web site has a wealth of information on free market (otherwise known as Libertarian) approaches to the health care problem at http://cato.org/healthcare/index.html. For lots of reading and statistics pertaining to Medicare, see http://cato.org/healthcare/medicare.html

If you want to bone up on arguments about the war on drugs, Take a look at http://www.leap.cc/. This web site is put together by law enforcement people who have decided that the 'war' is doing more harm then good. Lot's of good material.

CANDIDATE TIPS

May - 7 (or 6 depending on how you count) months to the election!

I was mistaken last month. The deadline for filing for office is September 1st. The date I mentioned pertained to primaries. Never the less, you do not need to wait! At the very least, there will be candidates for President, Vice President, US House, and Lt Governor in the Libertarian column on the ballot in your polling place. Why not add your name.

As I said last time, we stand ready to help you run in any way we can. That ranges from help filling out the candidate questionnaires through some matching funds for the truly serious. My experience running in 2002 was really very positive. I encourage you to take the plunge.

If you have any questions about all of this, feel free to call me (302.478.5919) or Jim Holliday (302.475.3212).

HELP WANTED

As you may know from reading this newsletter, or the paper edition, we would like to begin 'theme-ing' the First State Libertarian. Doing this will add some new work to the editor's job, and quite frankly she has enough already. So, we are looking for 'content editors' to volunteer to work on just one issue. Here is what that person would do: choose a topic such as Home Schooling, Gun Rights, Tax Policy, Health Care - anything where there is a pretty clear Libertarian point of view and you have an interest; make a list of a set of topics for articles and circulate it to the board, asking for volunteers to write same; be prepared to pull some content off the web, or possibly write some yourself; remind volunteers to write their articles; collect same; and finally, forward to the general editor. You would have no responsibility for actually putting the newsletter together. We should be able to tell you in advance the minimum number of words needed to fill an 8pg newsletter, which isn't too much after all the set pieces are put it, and the maximum to fill a 12pg edition. You have at least two months to complete your share.

CALENDAR

The Libertarian Party of Delaware state board meetings are open to the public, as are all of the county monthly meetings. As things are always subject to change, please email the indicated party before attending.

NC County: 6:30pm Sunday May 16th (third Sunday), Brandywine Brewing Company, Greenville, DE Business meeting is at 7pm; 6:30pm-7pm is for eating and mingling. Email Lisa Busch: ldbusch@yahoo.com

Kent County: 7pm Tuesday May 18th (third Tuesday), Dover Email Jim Conk: jconk4@comcast.net

State Board: 3:30pm Saturday May 22nd (a week early in May), Thomas England House, South Smynra Email Terri Lewis: tslewis@comcast.net

Sussex County: 7pm Tuesday May 25th (fourth Tuesday), Bella Capri Restaurant, Georgetown Email John Elliot: tyre@dmv.com

National Convention: May 27 - May 31, 2004 Marriott Atlanta Marquis Hotel, Atlanta, GA

NCC Discussion Group: Cancelled this month. Please join us in June. 11am Sunday June 13th (second Sunday), A Piece of Ireland (Chesmar Plaza, Newark) Email George Smith: chair@de.lp.org

Next issue of First State Libertarian On Line deadline for editorial content: May 28th

Next issue of First State Libertarian deadline for content: July 6th

Join the Libertarian Party of Delaware or contribute. Visit our web site at www.de.lp.org

Thanks to Tim Young and 123clickit.com for making libertarian@123clickit.com available to us.

QUIP OF THE MONTH

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free. --P.J. O'Rourke