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What Gives Them the Right to Make Me Pay for Their Health Care?

Health care reform has been in the news every day for a month now, and my recent posts have been a reflection of that.  I’ve covered the angry citizens at Town Halls, insults from leading Democrats directed towards anyone who disagrees with them (here’s a new one from Harry Reid, evil-mongers), and reasons why more government involvement in health care will bring the quality of care down and lead to rationing.  However, up to this point, I have not posted on a certain aspect of this debate that goes to the core of my political philosophy.  This morning, I was given the motivation to blog about it from a Mr. Larry Bassett, who wrote a letter to the editor in my local newspaper.  This particular letter raised my blood pressure a little bit.

The letter was titled Reform Needed Now.  Here is a portion of it:

“My health coverage ended in December 2008 when my COBRA expired. I left work in 2007 and am receiving a monthly Virginia Retirement System disability payment and Social Security. I will likely have no health coverage until my Medicare eligibility begins in October 2011.

…I have shopped for private health insurance. The best I could find was a $5,000 deductible policy for $622 a month offered by Anthem BC/BS. This means I would have annual health care expenses of $12,464 before I received any benefits. This is about one-third of my retirement income.

As a person without health insurance, I have been fortunate. My medical and dental costs so far in 2009 have only been $1,600. This is a result of postponing routine medical care, taking prescription drugs less frequently than prescribed and having no medical emergencies…

…Everyone in Congress claims to want some form of health care reform. I hope that the political climate for change will result in something being enacted so that everyone, including me, can afford health care. My vote is for a system with a public option paid for with a steeply graduated income tax.” (emphasis added)

To read the complete letter click here.

We can all agree that Mr. Bassett seems to be in a tight spot.  He can’t afford private insurance right now, and he is having to delay some medical procedures because of his financial situation.  I understand his dilemma.  What I don’t understand is why he wants the government to take money from me in the form of a “steeply graduated income tax”, and give it to him for his health care!  What gives him the right to my hard earned money!  Why is this acceptable?  Why do some people not realize that this is theft by way of the government?

Most people probably agree it would be wrong if I was to go up to a someone and say, “Give me money for my medical bills!  If you don’t give me the money, I’m going to have armed men come and throw you in a jail cell.”  This is exactly what Mr. Bassett wants the government to do!  Mr. Bassett wants me to pay for his health care by having the government take money from me, and give it to him.  If I refuse to give my hard earned money to the government for his health care, then the police will eventually show up at my door and arrest me.  In addition, the more money I make, the more Mr. Bassett thinks the government should seize from me, because he wants a steeply graduated tax.

I don’t understand this line of thinking.  How do otherwise good and moral people not realize that this is a form of stealing?  I will gladly give a portion of my income to a charity set up to help people who are having trouble paying their medical bills.  I do not, however, agree with people demanding that Congress confiscate money from me to give to someone else who they deem more worthy or needy of it.  We the people never agreed, by way of our Constitution, to have our money taken from us by our government to pay for another person’s medical care, or housing, food, and retirement for that matter.  In the Constitution, we the people did not give Congress the power to redistribute wealth.  Some may argue that the general welfare clause in article 1, section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress the power to collect taxes for anything they decide contributes to the general welfare of the people.  This is an incorrect view, and one that has been used by our government to overstep it’s Constitutional bounds… but I’ll leave that for another post.

Related posts:

1. Sorry, No Health Care for You part 1
2. 3 Reasons Why Health Care is Not a Right
3. The White House is Backing Away From the Public Option in Health Care Reform. Victory for Conservatives?
4. Is Government Run Health Care a Moral Duty and the New American Dream?

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