The myth of medical bankruptcy persists. Perhaps it's due to aggressive advertising campaigns. But when President Obama parroted the nonsense that one third of personal bankruptcies are caused by medical debt, even the mainstream media couldn't swallow it.
Well, I give up. Let's even ignore the fact that the government contributes to medical bankruptcy, and just accept the numbers trafficked by the advocates of government take-over of health care. I have the solution!
I recently blogged about orthopedic surgeon Dr. Brian Day's struggle to compete against the Canadian provincial government of British Columbia. It's a fight that he might yet lose, despite a four-year old Supreme Court of Canada decision that government-monopoly health care violates Canadians' civil rights.
One of the things that people "admire" about Canadian health care is that "nobody goes bankrupt paying medical bills." You may die waiting for diagnosis or treatment, but at least you ain't gone bankrupt.
What a simple solution! Bankruptcy is the legal consequence of being unable to pay debts. If people are free to spend money on things that they prefer, some will borrow more than they can pay back. Clearly, prohibiting people from spending money on health care, and taxing it away from them to fund a government-monopoly health-spending mechanism eliminates bankruptcy!
I can't believe that I never thought of this before. Why stop at medical costs? Surely, the government can abolish all bankruptcy by prohibiting people from buying cars, houses, jewelry, or paying for higher education themselves. Just tax them and have the government provide the goods and services. Bankruptcy solved!
After all, I don't think there was much bankruptcy in the old Soviet Union, Cuba, or North Korea.
Research and commentary from a former senior executive in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
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