Give Me Liberty or Give Me Health Insurance?

Our governor recently used a tactic similar to Barack Obama’s habitually ‘present’ vote — taking no action on a bill which would require autism treatment coverage for employer-provided health insurance.

Governor Parnell, by his decisive inaction, took action contrary to his stated opposition of SB 74 (then 187) on a candidate questionnaire in 2010. The complexity of autism testing and treatment, as well as a lack of peer-reviewed empirical data, was cited by those who criticized the mandate, but there is a larger issue. In a nation whose vast majority of employers have a staff of less than one hundred workers, we need to pay attention to the creeping, yet stomping force of totalitarianism. WIth eighty percent of our millionaires being first generation wealthy, each of us who desire material wealth still has the chance to earn it.

These issues are often chosen precisely for the images of conservatism which  spring up when voices are raised against the mandate. The unthinking American can too easily see conservatives in shades of carelessness, or simply as fat cats dismissive of the human condition. Far from the truth, which may be obfuscated by operatives on the left, our concern is for individual liberty — even for business owners. The American spirits who risk their livelihood in order to fulfill a vision, offer a service, and feed their families, do not become agents of ‘the common good’ by hanging out a shingle. A benefit is precisely that, and is a bargaining point for both parties.

With Independence Day just over the fence, we might raise our gaze beyond having an employer foot the bill for our family’s medical needs.