The Left spends a great deal of time talking about “affordable” healthcare. Yet their policy positions on the subject rarely match their talking points. Instead, they usually push a government-backed monopoly on the sector via things like Single Payer Plans that would actually make the costs of healthcare skyrocket while also forcing taxpayers to subsidize the costs.
Which is why we were pleasantly surprised to see the Biden Administration recently take a step in the right direction by actually removing government from a healthcare service recently – a move that will actually make services more affordable for millions of Americans.
In August, the Food and Drug Administration finalized a rule that will allow retailers like CVS and Wal-Mart to sell hearing aids over the counter. The devices will be available to people over 18 and without a medical exam or prescription. Reportedly the devices will be sold for as cheap as $199.
Nearly 30 million Americans experience hearing loss and could benefit from hearing aids.
My Administration is making them available over the counter, without a prescription, saving folks as much as $3,000 per pair.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 20, 2022
This is just one example of many in our healthcare sector where our government has traditionally partnered with insurance companies, medical associations, and others in the field to keep prices artificially high by forcing consumers to jump through hoops just to obtain basic services and treatments.
There’s no reason to mandate a person pay for a doctor visit, health insurance, and a pharmacist to obtain a product like a hearing aid. Individuals can tell when they need help hearing, and there’s no convincing argument that would suggest people could use these products to harm themselves or others. Rather, offering these devices over the counter merely means less money for all the crony fat cats in healthcare that use government mandates to force people to pay them as the middleman to obtain their basic needs.
This is a perfect example of how getting the government (and all its leeches) out of the market is what actually makes healthcare more affordable. And such actions meaningfully bring down the cost of healthcare without forcing others to pay for it at the same time.
We need a whole lot more like this. There are so many ways we could easily cut the corrupt insurance companies and healthcare associations out of the picture and let people get back to basic doctor/patient services and purchase medical needs over the counter. Things like birth control, prescription eyeglasses, inhalers, and treatments for everyday afflictions like yeast infections should also be available over the counter.
Eyeglasses should be next.
— Eric Tubbs (@etfree) October 21, 2022
It’s time to rip the government’s claws out of our healthcare system. We applaud the Biden Administration’s move to bring relief to millions of Americans with this action, and let’s hope they keep going in this direction.
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