On November 8, 2022, Americans will cast their midterm election votes: to continue Democrat (“D”) policies or repudiate them by voting Republican (“R”). 

The public knows what will happen if they decide to keep Democrats in power in the House, Senate, and governors’ mansions with regard to all current concerns, except one: healthcare.

Those who like an immigration policy of open borders will vote Democrat. Voters who enjoy paying more than $6 per gallon of gas (California) in support of the green new deal, will vote “D.” Those willing to ignore the rise in violent crime and eager to accept the highest inflation rate in four decades will pull the level for Democrats.  

On these hot button items, Americans know what they will get by voting Democrat. However, when it comes to healthcare, voting is a shot in the dark. The public has heard Democrats’ high-sounding rhetoric, but there is little solid evidence of their plans for achieving timely access to desperately needed medical care.

There is one issue in healthcare where Democrat intentions are clear – their CoViD scam. Democrats will continue hyping their new flu called CoViD as today’s Ebola. Americans should vote Democrat if:

o   You like wearing a face mask that doesn’t protect; 

o   You enjoy lockdowns; 

o   You prefer a government handout to a paycheck;

o   You don’t believe the evidence that mRNA vaccination can cause sterility in both men and women, various cancers, heart inflammation, illness in toddlers and babies, and death; 

o   You accept CDC politically adjusted medical data;

o   You like FDA approving boosters with no follow-up data; 

o  And in particular, if you approve censorship of any scientific data that Anthony Fauci doesn’t like.   

Beyond CoViD, other Democrat healthcare objectives are less obvious.

Buried in the self-styled Inflation Reduction Act is a provision that allows Medicare to “negotiate” drug prices. This means Washington will dictate, i.e., “fix,” drug prices. Dems boast that this will lower drug costs for seniors, and it will. However, fixed prices invariably cause shortages and stifle research and development. Vote D if you are willing to accept unavailable drugs and no new miracles drugs in exchange for lower prices today.

Vote Democrat if you want Washington to expand Obamacare subsidies but beware! Expanded subsidies give “healthcare” dollars to insurance companies but not providers. Government subsidies drive private insurance out of the market leaving consumers with only one option: federal, taxpayer-paid-for coverage. Most important, by voting “D” and approving expanded ACA subsidies, access to medical care will go down even further.

Experience with Obamacare proves that access to care declines as no charge government coverage goes up. Before the ACA, average maximum wait time to see a primary care doctor was 99 days. After the ACA was implemented, wait times had increased to 122 days! That’s four months to find out if your belly pain is gas, an ulcer, or cancer.

Democrats passed hospital transparency legislation claiming it is a magic bullet. Purportedly, it will reduce hospital bills by market forces like buying a sweater: as consumers see higher prices, they will go to cheaper stores. This is only true when consumers spend their own dollars. In healthcare, insurance companies, not patients (consumers), control where, when, and how much healthcare money is expended Hospital price transparency is more like the emperor’s new clothes than Aladdin’s lamp. 

Biden claims he can “insure more than 97% of Americans” by enacting Medicare-for-All (H.R. 1384). This bill will cost $33 trillion to $40 trillion; eliminate all private insurance; a complete federal takeover of healthcare – both financing and medical decision-making; and will further reduce Americans’ ability to get the care they need when they need it. Vote “D” if that is what you want.  

With full knowledge of what Americans are voting for, they will make better electoral decisions, whether to vote “D” or “R.”  

Deane Waldman, M.D., MBA is Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, Pathology, and Decision Science; former Director of the Center for Healthcare Policy at Texas Public Policy Foundation; and author of the multi-award-winning book Curing the Cancer in U.S. Healthcare: StatesCare and Market-Based Medicine.