RON PAUL: Answers to nation's health care crisis lie in freedom, not force

For many Americans, the most offensive aspect of the new health care program, commonly referred to as “Obamacare,” is the individual mandate.

The Constitution does not give the federal government the right to force Americans to purchase health insurance. I stand with the Constitution and the majority of Americans who oppose Obama-care and the individual mandate.

When the Republican nominee competes against Barack Obama this fall, it’s critical that nominee be able to show a clear contrast to the president’s health care policies.

Unfortunately, the rest of the GOP presidential candidates would have their time taken up by apologizing for their past support for government intervention in our health care decisions.

The Christian Science Monitor noted of current frontrunner Mitt Romney:

“Mr. Obama often praises Mr. Romney’s health reform as the model for the national version, including a mandate that requires individuals to purchase insurance.”

Of Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania’s The Morning Caller said that, in 1994: “Santorum … would require individuals to buy health insurance….”

Writes The Wall Street Journal of Newt Gingrich and the individual mandate: “Gingrich … co-sponsored legislation with this provision in 1993, when it was still in vogue with conservative think tanks; they have since renounced it. He continued to support a mandate in books published in 2005, 2009 and 2010, and in a May 2011 television appearance in which he said he supported ‘some requirement that you either have health insurance or you post a bond.’”

Republicans throw away one of their biggest issues when they agree with President Obama on government health care. If any of the other Republican presidential candidates become the GOP nominee, Obama can fairly say these candidates were for the individual mandate before they were against it. We won’t be able to make up that surrendered ground.

I spent my entire career in the medical profession stressing that the key to effective and efficient medical care is the doctor-patient relationship. Introducing free market principles would lower costs, increase access, and ultimately cure an ailing industry. I have continued to fight for these principles in Congress.

When federal bureaucrats intrude into the marketplace with their one-size-fits-all policies, it does no one any good. Today, excessive regulation, immoral measures like the individual mandate, and short-sighted incentives have created a system where no one is happy, doctors pass quickly from one patient to the next, insurance is expensive to get and difficult to maintain, and politicians place corporate interests ahead of their constituents.

The answer to our nation’s health care crisis lies in freedom — not force. As president, I will keep fighting to put you back in control of your health care decisions, save you money on medical expenses, and institute reforms that will once again make America’s health care system the standard for other nations to follow.

As President, I will work with Congress to enact the following program:

• Defund and repeal Obamacare and end its unconstitutional mandate that all Americans must carry only government-approved health insurance or answer to the IRS;

• Allow purchase of health insurance across state lines;

• Provide tax credits and deductions for all medical expenses;

• Exempt those with terminal illnesses from the employee portion of payroll taxes while they are suffering from such illnesses or are incurring significant medical costs;

• Give a payroll deduction to any worker who is the primary caregiver for a spouse, parent, or child with a terminal illness;

• Ensure that those harmed during medical treatment receive fair compensation while reducing the burden of costly malpractice litigation on the health care system by providing a tax credit for “negative outcomes” insurance purchased before medical treatment;

• Guarantee that what is taken from taxpayers to pay for Medicare and Medicaid is not raided for other purposes;

• Make all Americans eligible for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and remove government-imposed barriers to obtaining HSAs;

• Stop the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from interfering with Americans’ knowledge of and access to dietary supplements and alternative treatments;

• Prevent federal bureaucrats from tracking every citizen’s medical history from cradle to grave by prohibiting the use of taxpayer funds for a national database of personal health information.

The founders would have been horrified at the idea of government forcing citizens to become consumers of a particular product from certain government-approved companies. Citizens have a responsibility over their own lives, but they also have the liberty to choose how they will live and protect those lives.

As president, I pledge to fight this assault on our liberty and restore constitutional government.

Ron Paul is a physician, a Congressional representative from Texas and a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party nomination for the U.S. Presidency.