Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine

by Leonard Peikoff, Ph.D, updated by Lin Zinser. A powerful essay on the immorality of socialized medicine.

MORAL HEALTH CARE VS. "UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE"

Lin Zinser and Paul Hsieh argue that the current crisis in American health care is the result of decades of government interference and violations of individual rights in health insurance and medicine. The only moral and practical solution to the problem is not more government controls but instead to gradually and systematically transition to a rights-respecting, fully free market in those industries. From the Winter 2007-2008 issue of The Objective Standard.

MANDATORY HEALTH INSURANCE: WRONG FOR MASSACHUSETTS, WRONG FOR AMERICA

Paul Hsieh analyzes the theory behind the controversial Massachusetts mandatory health insurance program, exposes the program as a fiasco, explains why the theory had to fail in practice, and sheds light on the only genuine, rights-respecting means to affordable, accessible health care for Americans. From the Fall 2008 issue of The Objective Standard.

FAQ ON FREE MARKET HEALTH INSURANCE

Explains the benefits of a free market in health insurance and dispels some common misconceptions.

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Statement of Principles and Goals

We stand for Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine.

America was founded on the principles of freedom and individual rights. Applied to medicine, the law must respect the individual rights of doctors and other providers, allowing them the freedom to practice medicine. This includes the right to choose their patients, to determine the best treatment for their patients, and to bill their patients accordingly. In the same manner, the law must respect the individual rights of patients, allowing them the freedom to seek out the best doctors and treatment they can afford.

Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine (FIRM) promotes the philosophy of individual rights, personal responsibility, and free market economics in health care. FIRM holds that the only moral and practical way to obtain medical care is that of individuals choosing and paying for their own medical care in a capitalist free market. Federal and state regulations and entitlements, we maintain, are the two most important factors in driving up medical costs. They have created the crisis we face today.

What does FIRM do?

Researches and studies the work of scholars and policy experts in the areas of health care, law, philosophy, and economics to inform and to foster public debate on the causes and potential solutions of rising costs of health care and health insurance.

Sponsors and holds public educational programs, lectures and town hall meetings on issues regarding the causes of the crises in health care and health insurance, and on the morality and economic costs of various health care programs and proposals.

Provides speakers for local, private or public meetings and talks, for radio and television interviews, and for professional conferences or symposiums on these various issues.

FIRM provides you with information about how to protect freedom and individual rights in medicine, and you decide how to use it.

FIRM is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization; it does not endorse any health care treatment, product, provider, or organization.

Contact FIRM

FIRM
(Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine)
P.O. Box 851
Sedalia, CO 80135
E-mail: FIRM@WeStandFIRM.org

Or contact Paul Hsieh, MD at paulhsiehmd@gmail.com.

FIRM was founded by Lin Zinser JD, with assistance from Paul Hsieh, MD and others.