By Michael R. Shannon
Congratulations are in order for Delegate Bob Marshall (R-Prince William) who single-handedly led the fight to exempt Virginians from the baleful effects of Obamacare.
Virginia became the first state in the nation to pass legislation that prohibits the federal government from forcing residents to buy bureaucrat-approved health insurance.
In stark contrast to the party line, take-your-castor-oil-and-like-it strategy Obama, Pelosi and Reid are employing to pass Obamacare; 21 of 39 House Democrats in Virginia voted for Marshall's bill and five Democrats in the Senate ensured its passage.
Currently 34 other states are considering similar bills, while the remaining 15 holdouts are petitioning the European Union for annexation.
Democrat defenders of Obamacare's massive encroachment on personal freedom claim forcing the living to buy health insurance as a requirement for existing is just like forcing drivers to buy car insurance.
Proving when you're a politician any analogy, no matter how leaky, will do in a storm.
Except that driving is a privilege, while living is a right. A citizen who chooses not to drive (or a illegal alien who drives, but is immune to petty legal requirements) can do without car insurance - regardless of how long those creepy GEICO eyes stare at him. A non-driver can still conduct his affairs with a minimum of inconvenience. Drunks, the elderly and Greener-than-thou Democrats do it all the time.
But giving up life to avoid buying Obamacare is not much of a choice.
Coming to the defense of Virginians, Marshall explained, "It gives the state. the right to intervene on behalf of individuals should they decide not to pay for insurance and they refuse to pay the fine or they refuse to pay the fee or the tax or whatever you call it."
His bill is a grand gesture, but Marshall's efforts are only a start. For Virginia to be a leader in health care reform and a beacon to market-oriented conservatives nationwide, Marshall must take two more steps.
First allow Virginians to buy health insurance marketed in other states; opening our closed market to competition. And two, stop the Commonwealth's meddling in health insurance.
State government has mandated over 30 conditions that must be covered by insurance companies that do business in Virginia. What's more, Marshall himself wants to add another.
This "share the health" interference is essentially what Obamacare wants to do, just on a smaller scale.
Legislators, caving in to pressure groups, have decided single males have to pay for pap smears, postpartum services, childhood immunizations and mammograms. Single women have to pay for PSA tests for prostate cancer. Teetotaling Baptists have to pay for substance abuse treatment. Childless couples have to cover newborn children, early intervention services and obstetrical care. The elderly pony up for contraceptives and infant hearing screening.
Every one of these coverage mandates raise the overall cost of the policy. My wife, Janet says calculating opaque health care pricing is like taking clothes to the dry cleaners: you never know how much it's going to cost until you're in too deep to get out gracefully.
Economic illiterates shrug and say, "I don't care, because I don't use that coverage;" thinking no co-pay means no expense. But the point is YOU ARE PAYING FOR THOSE COVERAGES IN THE OVERALL COST OF YOUR POLICY!
Unbundling coverage and transparent pricing will give health care consumers the freedom to choose the coverage they want to pay for and decline the coverage they don't want or need. This red tape extraction will instantly lower coverage costs for many and make insurance more affordable overall.
Insurance socialism uses money from people who live a healthy lifestyle to subsidize the treatment of people who do not. And everyone gets to pay for others to use chiropractors, counselors, midwifes, acupuncturists, gypsies, magicians and soothsayers regardless of whether or not they believe in the transformative effects of patchouli oil.
Think of buying health insurance this way: remember the last time you had dinner at an expensive restaurant with "friends" from work? To save money, you avoided appetizers, ordered an inexpensive entre and had a pine float to drink.
Unfortunately the office manager, Fancy Pelosi and her posse insisted on ordering two appetizers each, had the most expensive entre, plus dessert. And the boss, Barry Nodrama, had three mixed drinks and ordered cigars!
When the bill came Fancy airily said, "Let's divide the bill equally and share the cost."
Well Bunkie, that's the health insurance market with government interference.
The health insurance market without government interference is competitive, efficient and innovative with lower overall cost.
Virginia, destiny is calling you.
Michael R. Shannon is a public relations and advertising consultant with corporate, government and political experience around the globe. Audiences agree he's a dynamic and entertaining keynote speaker. He can be reached at michael-shannon@comcast.net.
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