An Open Letter to Mr. President: Make Respect for and Protection of Individual Rights Great Again (Part 3)

How about cementing your legacy in time for our country’s 250th birthday by championing healthcare freedom?

Hi Mr. President,

I’m back with the eagerly anticipated 3^rd installment of my letter outlining your path to the pantheon of American presidents. My apologies for the foreign aid and foreign policy intermissions, but I thought your USAID clamp down was promising enough to comment on, and I wanted to voice my concern that you’re going Biden mentally after asserting that Ukraine started the war with Russia, accusing Zelenskyy of being a dictator, and morally sanctioning Vlad Putin, the currently top-ranked blood-on-his-hands scumbag on planet earth.

But I digress. Back to the letters. I haven’t seen much action on part 1, kickstarting economic growth, but with Chris Wright in charge of the Dept. of Energy, and Doug Burgum of the Dept. of Interior, I’m positive that deregulation with an eye towards government energy neutrality will bear fruit in short order. And hopefully Elon’s escapades will translate to legislative deregulatory action in the next few months as well. Just tell him to be careful as he downloads a bunch of classified info; we don’t want it to get into the wrong hands. Regarding my third suggestion, I realize it will take some PR preparations to change the tune on immigration and tariffs and subsidies, although the most recent—pardon my language—boneheaded 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico won’t make the PR feat any easier. But with your penchant for plain talk, I’m sure you’ll be able to bring the base around to your revised positions.

As for the topic of part 2 of the letter, retirement freedom, don’t wait too long. Our 250^th is just around the corner, and you must get the legislative congressional ball rolling well before the next midterm elections. The American public is fickle, and who knows what will happen come November 2026.

I ended part 2 with a teaser: “If kickstarting growth was the MAGA appetizer and giving Americans retirement freedom the main course, just you wait for the dessert! I promise you it’ll beat even McDonald’s Sweets and Treats.“ I know, it was a tall promise, but trust me, I have a literal legislative dessert cart full for you.

What are these sweet delights, you may wonder? Ending immoral government force in healthcare by bringing healthcare freedom to every American. Healthcare freedom is critical not only morally as an instance of respecting and protecting individual rights, but also practically: your presidency—and the nation—may come undone if we’re not able to address and resolve the healthcare spending deficit and unfunded liabilities. It’s not unthinkable that we’ll go the way of Europe, shackled by a sclerotic, immoral welfare state that we cannot pay for. Admittedly, this may give even you indigestion, especially as you’ve “promised” not to touch Medicare.

I mentioned in the previous parts of this letter that the total government debt and unfunded liabilities are $153.9 Trillion, of which Social Security represents 50.3 Trillion. Medicare—one part of the government healthcare programs immorally forced upon us—bests this number by being $66.2 Trillion in the tank. This can only be remedied by gradually returning freedom and control of their healthcare decisions to individual Americans, to their health insurance and healthcare providers, and to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries that are the source of life-enhancing innovation and progress. So how does the government violate individual rights in health-related fields, you ask? Here are a few of the biggest offenses and the suggested remedies:

1. Offense: The federal tax code violates the rights of both individuals Americans and their employers and health insurance companies, by making employer sponsored health insurance premiums tax deductible, creating an unlevel playing field.

Remedy: Decouple health insurance from employment.

2. Offense: Both the federal and state governments violate the rights of health insurance companies by mandating what conditions they must cover in their policies. This prevents them from exercising their rights to offer health insurance plans they think individual Americans are interested in, for example inexpensive catastrophic coverage.

Remedy: Repeal mandatory coverage laws and regulations both at the federal and state level.

3. Offense: State governments’ disparate regulations violate health insurance companies’ rights to freely compete across state lines without government interference, preventing them from achieving economies of scale that reduce insurance premiums over time.

Remedy: Repeal restrictions on selling health insurance across state lines, and repeal disparate regulations between states.

4. Offense: The federal government violates the individual rights of every American over age 65 by forcing them to mandatorily enroll in Medicare. This creates a government monopoly with its associated inefficiencies, including price and availability controls of both diagnostics, treatments and medications. So far, Medicare premiums have been kept down for political expediency reasons, but the unfunded liabilities will sooner or later lead to price increases or deterioration in service.

Remedy: Phase out Medicare as the affordable health insurance market described above evolves. This will be a long process. It has taken 60 years to get to the current state; it may take another half century to get out of it. But it starts with acknowledging the immorality of the current system.

5. Offense: State governments’ licensing requirements violate the rights of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers to seek employment wherever they desire.

Remedy: Repeal all government health insurance and health care related licensing requirements and let the marketplace determine what is truly desired.

6. Offense: The federal government violates the rights of pharmaceutical and medical device companies by forcing them to abide by expensive and time-consuming FDA and USDA regulations driving up prices and prolonging time to market for new drugs and devices.

Remedy: Repeal all FDA and USDA regulations and let the marketplace determine what drug safety checks and balances are truly needed.

The list can be made much longer but addressing the above would be a terrific start. See my book for additional suggestions (I’ve mailed you a copy; great bedside reading). It would in short order create a thriving marketplace for health insurance and increase the pool of health care workers, both of which would put downward pressure on health costs, increasing affordability for large numbers of Americans.

Within not too long, perhaps while you’re still in office, the emergence of affordable health insurance means that you may start to cut back on the Affordable Care Act. Likewise, federal Medicaid support to the states may be phased out, let’s say 5-10% per year, leaving it to them decide if, in what form, and how long they continue. Private charity will provide the final safety net for those who still cannot find health insurance due to preexisting conditions or financial hardship.

Much of the above you won’t be able to accomplish in your time in office in the face of a reluctant Congress and public opinion (unless you pull a Putin presidential term extension on us). But you have the opportunity of a lifetime to go down in history as the first president in a very long time who faced the facts and who got the ball rolling in the direction that guaranteed another 250 years and beyond of American greatness. There's a legacy to be justifiably proud of.

If you set the three initiatives in motion—(1) Kickstarting economic growth, (2) freeing Americans from the immoral shackles of government retirement programs, and (3) liberating Americans from immoral government force in healthcare (and assuming you learn to differentiate between friends and foes internationally)—I’m willing to vote for your inclusion on Mount Rushmore. Consider that a promise set in stone.