the arizona strategy
In 1787, Dr. Benjamin Rush, the most respected American doctor of his time, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, sought unsuccessfully to have protection of “medical freedom” inserted into the U.S. Constitution. Without it, Rush warned with prescience, we might someday see medicine become “an undercover dictatorship and force people who wish for doctors and treatment of their own choice to submit to only what the dictating outfit offers.”
More than 200 years later, the Rush-inspired Arizona Health Care Freedom Act brings into sharp focus the implications of a government-run, bureaucrat-controlled, special-interest-driven health care system. Is it any wonder that more than 30 states have followed Arizona, working on similar efforts to safeguard health care freedom so no one can be coerced into any particular health care system or plan, nor wake up to discover that lobbyists and special interests have taken complete control of all their health decisions.
We live in a world of constant discovery and advancement in health care. Americans choose from a broad array of “standard” and “alternative” treatments, including homeopathic, naturopathic, chiropractic and traditional care plans, often choosing the combination that works best for them. The Arizona Health Care Freedom Act and the proposals it has inspired all seek to preserve the freedom to choose health care that patients believe will best suit their needs.
It is not too late to heed Dr. Rush’s warning. With the Health Care Freedom Act, we have the opportunity protect liberty and self-determination and to remind elected officials and special interests that we will not cede control over our health to the whims and mediocrity of a government bureaucracy.
