By Mark David Blum, Esq.

Make no mistake; my love for Islam and Sharia law is non-extant. There is little about the modern Islamic world and its anchors in historical brutality that I consider affirms a religion of peace. Though the world is presently at war with religious extremists of all stripes, I have a personal history that does not normally enable me to embrace my Islamic brothers. Generally, I do not support those who wish me dead.

That being said, “Comparing the benefits of health insurance policy to gambling, key Islamic organizations have termed the policies as illegal and directed Muslims to keep away from them.” Arguing that health insurance has fundamentally changed in its nature from a “noble service” to one of gambling, leaders from over 300 Madrassas joined in the collective decree.

Here in these grand United States, there is presently a debate whether medical care should be universal and a right inherent to every citizen. Opposing the concept are the relics and old folks who equate socialism with Stalin and cannot separate the political paradigm from those who have abused it in the past. Behind those voices are lobbying by Big Insurance and Big Pharma.

Think for a second: If you are standing on a corner and are robbed, you have a socialized police force ready to come to your help. You have a socialized criminal justice system and prison system to deal with threats and wrongdoers. We do this because we realize that at any given time, any one of us could be a victim of a crime and need help.

If your house is burning down, again we have a socialized fire rescue agency to come and help. Again, we do this because we all realize that any one of us could be at risk of fire and we provide this service to all for our own protection.

If your child cannot read, then we have a socialized educational system because we all realize the value of an education and how it betters the nation.

If we need plumbing, roads, plowing of snow, we have socialized infrastructure to help everyone because we realize that as a community we need to be able to move about.

But, if you are standing on a corner and you see a fellow American drop to the ground suffering from a heart attack, all we do is stand there saying, “boy, I sure hope he has good insurance.” That in and of itself is a gamble since most insurance companies are quick to pocket your premiums and invisible when it comes to paying benefits.

Is it me or can we all accept the reality that sooner or later we are all going to need medical care. Providing ‘universal’ or ‘socialized’ medicine and cutting out the insurance companies will shift medical care to the same status as fire, police, courts, infrastructure, and education. Medical care should be seen as fundamental and basic a human need as any other.

At the same time, it is time to correct a sixty year old bad habit that started as a fad and marketing trend and has since blossomed into what most folks consider a near constitutional right. I speak of the new age belief that an employer must provide health care benefits to its employees … or that employees have a right to insist, request, or even consider a health care plan as part of a compensation package.

Prior to the Second World War, there was no concept of an employer driven health care system. Because millions of healthy workers were in uniform, current demands of industry were high. Since the labor force controlled the market, employers began using Health Insurance as an added incentive to lure skilled workers to their industry. When the next generations came into the work force, they too wanted the same benefits as their forefathers and what we ended up with today is a benefit that is perceived as being on par with actual salary as the primary job consideration.

Wherefrom comes to any government, the legal or constitutional authority to actually command a private employer to provide a specific benefit to its workforce. Doing so is unconscionable for two reasons. Aside from the libertarian and capitalist defenses of private rights to do business any way you want consistent with those who would buy your product, the two reasons government mandated health insurance through employers is repugnant are (1) only the insurance companies profit, and (2) it is an unreasonable burden on the entire market; both employer and employee.

America has to wake up to the con game called “health insurance”. There is absolutely no reason for a financial institution to involve itself in the relationship between doctor and client. Hospitals and medical providers deserve to be paid and yes their fees are extremely high.

Removing insurance from the equation will remove a very costly middle man; whose markup triples again threefold the cost of services rendered. Insurance companies fix the market prices. Insurance decides the services that cannot and those which must be rendered. Cutting out the middle man will force the market prices to adjust, alternatives to financing will be reached such as doctors and hospitals carrying the paper (like the rest of the world), and a more sane and rational balance will be found. Don’t ban insurance. Just stop seeing it as the ultimate solution to our nation’s health care crisis.

Similarly, our nation’s employers are not medical providers (unless that is their service). We sell widgets and the skills to build, install, and operate those widgets. The last thing our employers need is to involve themselves in the business of insurance; either in carrying it and billing for it, or in paying monstrous premiums to commercial carriers. It simply is not their business and frankly, employers lack any real skill at providing quality benefits for the prices charged.

With employees, the situation is no better. Mandatory insurance upon the employer gives the employer unbelievable access to the most private aspects of a person’s life. Employers will know your blood pressure, your drug preferences, and of your venereal diseases. You will have to share personal medical information just to get the job; not because it is a condition of employment but because it is necessary to assess your impact upon the employer’s risk pool.

Business needs to focus on widgets. We, as a Nation need to find another solution to our nation’s healthcare crisis. Absolutely and no matter what, “insurance” must be factored out of the equation.

I encourage too our nation’s unions to remove insurance as an element of their contract demands. Doing so would free up so much capital; salaries, benefits, AND research and development would be enhanced. Such a mass shift in the burden of solving the health care crisis from the employer back to all of us will pressure society to change the old ways and find new ones.

There are strong viable alternatives. One is a single government payor system with a parallel private system. Another is taxpayer and investment funded free access with medical providers being paid government employees.

It is not a pleasant thought but each of us must also take personal responsibility for our medical issues. We do not labor primarily for the Lexus and lakefront properties. We labor for food, shelter, and the basics of life. All the other goodies are perks. Each of us must start to accept at an early age that later in life, we will have medical issues and chances are that they will be expensive ones. Just as we prepare our young for college and home buying and retirement, we should prepare them to plan for the real eventuality of illness and injury.

The proof is in the pudding. Your premiums go up, your benefits go down, and your doctors get richer. Look back five years, ten years, even twenty five years. In which direction doth moveth the trend? Do you honestly expect this pattern to change?

‘Change’ comes from within.