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A free market in health care benefits children too.  The life expectancy for a child born with cystic fibrosis in the United States is 37 years, but only 27 years in Ireland under its government-controlled (or nationalized) health care.

A free market in health care benefits children too.  The life expectancy for a child born with cystic fibrosis in the United States is 37 years, but only 27 years in Ireland under its government-controlled (or nationalized) health care.

Currently there is a massive national debate over the future of health care in America.  The Democratic proposal included a "public option," which would be a government-controlled health insurance program analogous to the Post Office.  Its proposal includes many other controversial features, including:

Currently there is a massive national debate in America over the future of health care in America.  The Democratic proposal included a "public option," which would be a government-controlled health insurance program analogous to the Post Office.  Its proposal includes:

*a “public option” that will define which treatments will be allowed and which will not, with a goal of limiting costs.

*the “public option” may define which treatments will be allowed and which will not, with a goal of limiting costs.

*mandatory insurance requiring people to buy what they do not currently want, and which may not cover what they need.

*mandatory insurance requiring people to buy what they do not currently want, and which may not cover what they need.

*requirements that "self-insured employers" provide insurance for their employees, even if the small business cannot afford it.

*requirements that "self-insured employers" provide insurance for their employees, even if the small business cannot afford it.

Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice Presidential candidate in 2008, criticized this plan as follows:

Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice Presidential candidate in 2008, criticized this plan as follows:

:The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

:The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell<ref>Thomas Sowell is a prominent African American economist who consistently supports free market solutions to health care and other challenges.</ref> has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

 

 

In America children having cystic fibrosis live an average of 37 years, but under nationalized health care in Ireland the life expectancy for children with this condition is only 27 years.  Government-run health care does not cover many special-needs conditions, and once everyone is in the government system there is not enough of a free market to fund proper care for special needs persons.

==Assignment==

==Assignment==