Who Pays?

(1) If someone cannot pay for a service, then someone else -- not government -- has to pay for it.  Government does not pay for anything.  It uses the power of coercion to force some other citizen(s) to foot the bill.  The only money government has or can get is money it takes from citizens.

         (2) Health care is not a right because health care is a service provided by others.  We have no right to their work.  That is, we have no right to force others to do work for us.  If we could compel the work of others at our will, they would be slaves.  Your doctor is not your slave.  Neither is your grocer, your plumber, or your auto body repairman.  If you want health care, you must be willing to pay for it, just like you must be willing to pay for it if you want a muffler, a television, a computer, a cell phone, or groceries.  Those things all come at a price.  Someone must pay that price.  The only real question is, "Who ought to pay for it?"

         (3) Without exception, every public policy hurts someone.  If you decide to hurt someone by law or by policy, you'd better have a remarkably good moral and political reason.  Frankly, there just aren't any good reasons of that sort because to discriminate by law against the successful is an evil.  You must not target others by law because of their bank account any more than you ought to target others for their skin color or their gender.  Evil is evil regardless of your intentions. Good intentions don’t mend the matter at all.

         (4) If you want government involved in this issue at all, it should be involved only as a way to prompt or promote voluntary charity.  By that I mean that government should give tax breaks to those who voluntarily decide to assist the less fortunate in their time of need, whether that need be for health care, groceries, housing, etc.  The generosity of the American people is legendary.  Government, therefore, should be creating incentives that set that charity loose to do well the things for which government is shockingly ill-suited, things like charity.