The Great Conceit

February 8, 2012

The Obama administration has ordered that all health insurance must cover the full cost of certain female preventative health services including contraceptives for free; no deductibles, no co-pays, nothing, free.

See the HHS News Release.

See this explanation from the Whitehouse Press Secretary.

See related Wall Street Journal Editorial.

See Wall Street Journal Opinion piece in Defense of the Mandate.

The media thinks the controversy is over non-profits having to comply with this order, including religiously affiliated universities and hospitals. I think there is a deeper problem, conceit.

The explanation of the policy boils down to Mr. Obama’s belief that all people who pay for health insurance coverage must subsidize free services including contraceptives for those women who want them.

Should the government require all people who pay for health insurance coverage to subsidize free blood pressure medicines for those people who want them?

Should the government require all people who pay for health insurance coverage to subsidize free Weight Watchers programs for those people who want them?

Should the government require all people who pay for health insurance coverage to subsidize free smoking cessation programs for those people who want them?

Should the government require all people who pay for health insurance coverage to subsidize free abortions for those women who want them?

Recently, but before the Greek reality check, some European Union official was proposing that every citizen should have vacations at five star resorts subsidized by taxpayers. Really!

What is going on here? Why are we, as health insurance customers, being required to subsidize free stuff and why shouldn’t each of us pay the fair market price for health insurance that covers what we want it to cover? Where are the limits of what government will mandate as free stuff?

The government should have one simple rule requiring all people to pay for what they wanted out of their own pockets. If some people wish to subsidize free stuff for some people they can start a 501(c)3 non-profit, solicit voluntary contributions and distribute the money to those whose wishes they choose to serve. What we have now is forced government charity using your money.

As Woody Allen has noted, when you are sure you are right you will have a moral obligation to impose your will upon those who disagree with you, that is, if you have no understanding of individual liberty and responsibility and no understanding of the proper role of limited government.

These mandates simply reflect conceit exercising political power.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.