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Clinton Plan Criminalizes Private Medicine

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Media Link - Baltimore Sun
Written by Michael J. Hurd, Ph.D.   
Monday, 20 June 1994 00:00
President Clinton asks Americans to place the "national interest" above what he calls "narrow" interests, and to pass his health care reform plan. Think carefully before accepting this argument. Is it really in the national interest to impose criminal penalties on physicians for offering "supplementary benefits" to patients who may choose not to participate in the government purchasing collectives? This is precisely what the Clinton proposal does. The plan forbids "the payment of bribes and gratuities to implement the delivery of health services and coverage." No matter what the bill's supporters claim, this statement can and will be interpreted in courts and by government agencies to mean that no voluntary, private contracts may be initiated between doctors and patients. The government will at last control the practice of medicine in its entirety. The closest analogy one can imagine is the federal government imposing criminal penalties on any individuals who choose to operate a private school outside the public school system. It is almost as if the authors of the Clinton plan sensed that the better doctors would not participate in the collectives, thus requiring them to be mandatory. The Clinton plan relies on the false assumption that human beings are incapable of making rational decisions about medical treatment in the context of their own unique, personal circumstances. A free market approach suggests just the opposite. It assumes that human beings are capable of making rational decisions, if they choose, and if government interference in the marketplace does not prevent them from doing so. If certain individuals choose not to make rational decisions, this is still no justification for imposing price controls and rationing on the rest of the individuals who do. The evidence of the past 50 years suggests that the real causes of medical inflation are the following: (1) unfair and irrational tax codes which effectively prevent individuals from purchasing health insurance on their own and without reliance on their employers; (2) a 30-year spending spree by both doctors and patients under Medicare and Medicaid programs which pick up the tab for hospitalizations or, when the government deficit explodes, force private hospitals to cover the losses; and (3) senseless licensing laws that grant physicians a monopoly on certain medical treatments that could just as competently, and far less expensively, be performed by other medical professionals (such as nurses and physician's assistants). It is no accident that as the government's interference in the medical marketplace has increased, so have the costs. Finally, and most importantly, no moral government is entitled to impose price controls on doctors in the first place. Doctors, like all professionals, have a right to charge what they think is appropriate for their life-preserving services. It does not serve the interest of any American to drive the best physicians out of the field and to alienate those who remain by perpetuating the stereotype that they are unfeeling exploiters of human vulnerability. The first lady's comments in this regard have been especially reprehensible and will not soon be forgotten by those of us who view doctors as heroes, not enemies. Universal coverage can neither be wished nor legislated into existence, however hard Washington officials may try. Only individuals, acting freely and in their own self-interest, will ever be able to provide competent and comprehensive health care. Hopefully Americans, on the eve of a life-threatening vote in Congress, will not have to learn this lesson the hard way.
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