Freedoms you’ll lose under the congressional reform plan

CNN Money reports on the five freedoms Americans would lose if the current congressional health care reform plan were put through:

1. The freedom to choose what’s in your plan
2. Freedom to be rewarded for healthy living by paying your real costs
3. Freedom to choose high deductible coverage
4. The freedom to keep your existing plan
5. The freedom to choose your doctors.

These freedoms are significant for one very important reason: The freedoms to choose what’s in your plan, to choose a high deductible plan and to benefit from the lower health care costs incurred by someone who lives a healthy life are all freedoms that lead to choices that promote lower health care costs. Losing these freedoms in the process of reforming health care would push up health care costs even though the purpose of the reforms is to bring these costs down.

The bills threaten to eliminate the one part of the market truly driven by consumers spending their own money. That’s what makes a market, and health care needs more of it, not less.

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