CBS Says It's 'Free,' But There's Always A Cost

CBS News reports that next year under the new Obama care program, the following services will be available FREE for women. Well-Woman visits, contraception and counseling, gestational diabetes screening, HPV-DNA counseling, STD counseling, HIV screening and counseling, breast feeding support and supplies, and interpersonal and domestic violence screening. This will be added to the already available benefits for free mammograms, cervical cancer screening and prenatal care. CBS reports this could be available for 47 million women.

Is there anything in the first paragraph women do not need? My wife will kill me, but I wonder about the breast feeding supplies. (It’s a joke, I know about the pumps etc.) The answer to my mind is everything mentioned is necessary and desirable. My question goes to the issue of free.

Will the insurance companies be giving these services free? You know better. Insurance companies take money from all of us, pay the bills, pay their expenses and leave in a profit margin to stay in business. They add these numbers up and establish the rates for the coming year. Insurance companies are not going to be doing this for free.

Will doctors be doing this for free? No, doctors must pay for their education, their office expenses, their staff and their own living expenses. So, we are told, they have no choice, the administration is reducing the payments to Docs and requiring these services. One of the issues we have now in our National Health Care system is doctors dropping out of the Medicare/Medical system. The doctors simply cannot keep their doors open at those reimbursement rates so they pull out of the system. Doctors are not going to do this for free.

Who is going to be paying for these services? The 51% of people who pay income taxes will be asked to pay more. We are constantly discussing this, so let’s pass this time and talk about another segment of the issue.

I am taking the stance that this is deceptive advertising like we would never allow from a commercial company in this country. It is also another step to try to divide us into classes. This is the very worst example of political hype and self-serving big government advocacy in history. Forget the Constitution; this actually suggests people in this country are too stupid to understand that there is no such thing as a free lunch. This is to count on people being so attuned to their political party they will move away from individual thinking and reasoning. Free? There is nothing in the world for free. Everything from liberty, commerce, research and development, highways, bridges, politicians and even marriage licenses cost somebody, somewhere money.

Think about your average food center in a poor community which advertises free food for the needy. The food given out or prepared is only free to the people receiving the food. The people who prepare the food are often volunteers, usually working under the direction of a paid person, working for the charity. This is not always true, but often. All the food was paid for at some point in the food chain. The farmer paid for the seed, fertilizer and water. They picked the food, transported the food and off loaded it. If it is direct to the center that is all the costs. They are always having food drives outside my local grocery store. I always take a bag and fill it from the list. The money I spend is given freely and with love. But the money was my money and I worked for it. The fact that I’ve been in the other guy's shoes and I know how much the food is appreciated does not mean the food was free. It was paid for by my efforts.

We must get away from this idea of free. If you want to put forth the argument that we have a right to take working people’s money and give it to people not working, then make that argument. If you don’t feel the people earning have a right to their own rewards, then make the argument. But be honest about what you think. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Come on CBS, how about a little truth in your headlines? It is not free, it is a gift from the working people of this country.