Big Government's Solution To Health Care: Spend Money Or "Suck It Up"

Conservatives seem to worry that "rights" can be taken away by the government at any time, and that allowing certain things such as health care to be called a "right" is a perversion of the word itself. According to Big Government author Kerry J. Byrne, the intellectual left have distorted what a "right" really is by claiming Americans have the right to health care, and to some degree, Byrne agrees with them, or so he writes.

Every American does have a right to health care. In fact, they have that 'right' right now. They have the right to buy insurance. They have the right to not buy insurance. They have the right to pay out of pocket. They have the right get a second opinion. They have the right to rub a little dirt on it and suck it up. They have a right to help out a friend in need.

If you think about it, Byrne has things a bit backwards, confusing the right to health care with the right to pay for health care. While conceding that the current system needs to be fixed, Byrne comes equipped with all the solutions.

You can still find another insurance company, seek help in a different state, find a charitable doctor to pay for it, benefit from a fundraiser or, worst-case scenario, benefit from the generosity of a well-funded, for-profit private health care institution.

He makes it sound so easy. Next time I have a family member dying of cancer or some other life-threatening ailment, I will be sure to shop around for a better insurance policy (impossible), import drugs from Canada (illegal, and not quite sure what a different state would offer), or find some generous and wealthy organization to take care of something that the government was established to do (laughable), and by that, I quote the Preamble of the Constitution, which states that the Constitution was established to "promote the general Welfare," among other things, with the context of the word "welfare" meaning "health, happiness, or prosperity."

What does Byrne predict in the near future, should legislators finalize a bill expanding medical coverage?

At best, your rights will be forced underground into a health care black market: doctors illegally providing care in a cash-only medical economy – but probably one better than the legit “health care” system where patients have no rights but those regally gifted to them by the lords of big government (who, themselves, will never be denied care).

The system that Byrne describes sounds oddly familiar. I think that is because it sounds like what we are experiencing now. If you want medical care, you better pay up.

I am reminded of the narration of Henry Hill in the movie Goodfellas, when Henry mentions someone going into business with Paulie, and forgive me in advance for the language used: "Business bad? Fuck you, pay me. Oh, you had a fire? Fuck you, pay me. Place got hit by lightning, huh? Fuck you, pay me."