After living in central Wisconsin, I got to know many Amish families and got to know the Amish culture. I also did a research paper while in college about the Amish and special education, one of the first papers on the subject.
The Amish generally disown any government services (except emergency services) and insurance of any kind. They will use public schools for a severely disabled child, but that generally is about it. No welfare, social security, unemployment, food stamps etc.
The Amish also, in most cases, do not pay for health insurance. That doesn't mean they don't get health care, it just means they use it wisely. They have glasses for poor eyesight but don't have braces for their teeth. When I worked at U.W. Hospital while I was going to college, there was a painful case where a small child was in critical condition and on a ventilator and it was iffy if the child would survive. The family choose to take the child off the ventilator because of the cost. They said that while they would have like have liked the chance to save their child, they thought their money could be better spent on future medical needs of their community.
That also doesn't mean the Amish don't pay their bills- they do. If the family can pay it, great. If the family cannot pay, they go to their local community and then they go to Amish communities that are close by. Finally, if the bill is still too large, then make a call out to the Amish nationwide through their newspaper, "The Budget". http://www.thebudgetnewspaper.com/
Through legal cases, the Amish, because of religious reasons, do not pay social security taxes and their kids go to school only through the 8th grade. They also have exemptions for their horse and buggies.
So, now, here comes Obama and the Democrats who insist everyone must have health insurance. So, even though the Amish and related religions, almost 300,000 who live in the U.S., the liberals want to force the government on them. Even though the Amish have paid their bills and have lived their lives responsibly, they are going to be penalized- either through a fine or forced insurance. And in most cases, it will be a fine. And if they refuse to pay the fine or refuse to get insurance, then what? Are they going to throw thousands of Amish in jail for following their religious beliefs?
I have a lot beefs with Obama's and the Democrats health care bill, however, the biggest problem I have is the mandatory health insurance everyone must have. The U.S. government requiring people to purchase a product is wrong and un-American. There is no other product that every U.S. citizen is required to purchase. None. Nada. Zero. So, why health insurance?
The liberals say they look out for the little guy, but in reality, they don't. They say they believe in choice, but in reality, they do not, unless it is abortion.
Until the liberals can state why the Amish have to abandoned their religious principals for mandatory health insurance, I will be forever against Obama and liberals and their health care reform.
First of all, the Amish will be exempted from the mandatory insurance requirement -- if not by whatever bill Congress passes, then by the courts.
ReplyDeleteIt would be fine to allow people to choose not to buy health insurance if doctors and hospitals could then choose not to provide them with health care they cannot afford, or if all Americans behaved like the Amish and refrained from requesting care they cannot pay for. However, hospital emergency rooms still have to provide treatment, and we all pay for it (through our higher insurance premiums, which subsidize the uninsured).
Young, healthy people often take that gamble in order to avoid spending money on health insurance (even though their premiums are relatively low), which skews the insurance risk pool towards older and/or less healthy people. When those uninsured young people smash their car or fall off a balcony while drunk, they get emergency care, then fail to pay the bills. They've probably already got crappy credit, so what do they care?
I think, as an alternative to requiring health insurance, Congress should offer a bill limiting the amount of health care hospitals can offer to those who cannot pay for it. If people want to choose not to buy insurance, fine, but I should be able to choose not to pay for their health care.
If our society sees a certain level of (emergency) health care as a right (and it must, since hospitals are required to provide it), then we need to fund it the way we pay for other government services, and not in the unsustainable way it is currently funded.
You just don't get it.
ReplyDeleteAdding 40++ million people to the "FREE MEDICINE" wagon will reduce the cost of medicine.
Ain'a? Whaddya mean you don't understand that?
Jill, I don't have confidence that Congress will exempt the Amish. Maybe the courts, but the Amish aren't rich enough to do a major lawsuit.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is not the younsters not buying insurance and then getting into accidents. Yes, it does happen, but not that often.
The majoor problem ofd the non-insured is illegal immigration, especially here in the West. Just at 1 hospital in Las Vegas, it costs them $2 million a month to treat the illegals for emergency kidney dialysis. In Las Vegas alone, illegals cost the local taxpayers millions up millions dollars a month. But yet, the politicians don't want to address this problem.
I do agree that providing emergency services to the uninsured is a problem. But forcing everyone to purchase insurance is not the answer.
I also agree that we should limit emergency health care to actual emergencies.
If the Amish can't afford a major lawsuit, then how did the New Glarus Amish community take their case against mandatory public schooling to the Supreme Court in the 1970s? The case is famous enough to have been mentioned in my high school social studies text book. There are plenty of pro-bono lawyers and non-profit organizations who will assist their legal fights.
ReplyDeleteThey have to get a pro-bono attorney. But times are differnt, except in the Amish world. With TV, internet and other forms publicity, not too many Amish will be willing to go through the ordeal since they shun publicity. They don't even like their picture being taken. Try find a pro-bono lawyer who has clients who don't want publicity. Maybe they are out there, but it will be difficult.
ReplyDeleteLawyer fees are also different now, as they were in the 70's.
Great post Dan. I stumbled upon it as I was doing some research for a paper I am writing about the importance of community in America, and the necessity to get back to the roots of community serving as primary provider in order to move America back toward the direction of adherence to our Constitution. In times of debate when the argument is over government as caretaker vs. the private marketplace, I frequently turn to the Amish community to see how a society that retains over 300,000 members every year, and increases annually, can virtually sustain itself entirely by inside community support and zero government assistance (AND leave no burden on local, state and federal resources).
ReplyDeleteThe truth of the matter is that our founders feared this very situation. They feared that, in the heat of trouble and insecurity, that people would turn more and more to their government to solve problems. And in doing so, the role of family and community would grow weaker and weaker. And over the years, this is precisely what we have allowed. "Progressive" Liberals will often cry that the government needs to intervene because communities aren't taking care of their own...but the reality is that communities aren't taking care of their own BECAUSE the government keeps intervening. That is REgressive not PROgressive for American principles. I am someone with both a chronic disease and a permanent spinal injury - I know health care. And when I had no health care for a period of unemployment, it was luckily my community and my doctors who came to my aid. For when I'd turned to the government for assistance, all I got was inefficiency, stress, rejection, and lots of lawyers' bills trying to fight for what government should have paid for (not at 40% under their artificially low Medicare rate, but how about paying 100%?).
By the way, that's why private insurance is unaffordable. Because the government stiffs good doctors and hospitals for 60% of every legitimate charge, and they deny practically everything in the first place. The private sector in turn picks up the GOVERNMENT'S tab. That's not a public health care option, that's bureaucracy and rationing. I NEED my private health plan to live. And I wish America could get back to allowing community and states to serve as caretaker in the instances of catastrophic events and the uninsured. That is their role, not the federal government's.
Also, Jill should research NCARF, as it is this organization that advocated for the lawsuit, not the Amish themselves, because NCARF knew the Amish community would be hesitant to fight for their rights. A private non-profit organization coming to the aid of another private community to help protect their constitutional rights. THAT'S the real history lesson.