Minister misses the mark on health care

Once again, Howard Bess mixes his secular progressive/Marxist agenda with religion (Christian churches and health care, July 17). And once again, he’s got it all wrong. I’ll tell you what’s scandalous, Mr. Bess. That we’re even considering going trillions more into debt so we can have rationed health care that will be much more expensive than what we have today and much less efficient. There is a reason Canadians come to the U.S. for health care. Their own system is broken and getting worse. Seeing a specialist can take months or even years. The British National Health Service is a nightmare of inefficiency, neglect and callousness.

I didn’t spend four years in college so I could watch the government take over half my income and give it to those who choose to not work or who choose to be underemployed. Taking the wealth of those who produce, and redistributing it to those who don’t is not a function of government. And Mr. Bess, you are perverting the meaning of the “promote the general welfare” clause in the Constitution. You should read Section 8 to get a better understanding of what was meant. You should also read what Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and others had to say about its intent. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that government is to rob from Peter so it can give it to Paul. In the Bible it’s known as stealing, and one of the Ten Commandments says thou shalt not do it.

Another glaring error in the article is the administrative costs between Medicare and the private sector. It is an apples vs. oranges comparison that doesn’t take into consideration that a significant portion of Medicare administrative costs are hidden or ignored, the cost of acquiring funds is not counted or it is borne by the private sector in the form of withholding the Medicare tax from every employee, and also the fact that the average claim is much higher for Medicare patients, which means that a lower percentage is spent on handling the claim. Just Google “Medicare administrative costs” to get a clearer picture on the matter.

I’ll be the first to admit we don’t have a perfect system, but what Congress is trying to foist on us will give us all a system much worse, except for members of Congress and a few other “elite” members of society.

There is a reason why Canada and many European countries are once again allowing private medical providers. Their state run systems are broken and a disgrace. I don’t see Americans going to Canada or Europe for health care; it’s the other way around. People come here for quality health care. I don’t see American doctors leaving this country so they can practice in Canada or Europe, it’s the other around. Doctors come to America so they can be free to practice medicine without the intrusiveness and heavy-handedness of government.

Mr. Bess, you really should do your homework before you submit a column. And when it advances the secular progressive agenda, you really should ask that it be run as an op-ed piece.

The last time I wrote in I suggested you read your Bible. I really do encourage you to do so, so that you understand it better. I would also encourage you to read the Constitution, as well as the intentions of the founding fathers, in their own words. And if you ever teach Bible 101, stick to the Bible, rather than using it as a springboard to advance the secular progressive agenda of government dominating and controlling our lives.

Erik Heiker is a resident of Wasilla.