Earlier this summer, the Democrats in the state Senate introduced, debated and passed a bloated government-run health care program in a grand total of two days. Democrats have been touting the proposal as a bold step forward in the fight to control the costs of health care and ensure that every Wisconsinite is covered with quality health insurance. Such a program may sound great, but once we start to peel away the glowing rhetoric and praise, what is it we are actually getting? To begin with, we get a brand new 14.5 percent payroll tax on the first $97,500 a person earns each year. Of that tax, 4 percent is paid by the employee and the rest — 10.5 percent — is paid by the employer. These new taxes take the place of our current health care premiums, and our private health insurance is replaced by the state and its ever-efficient bureaucracies. This program is not voluntary. It is not a last resort for those individuals and companies that simply cannot afford health care. No, this is a mandatory program that takes significant choice and control over your own health care away and places it in the hands of the government. Despite what supporters may argue, universal coverage in a government-controlled health care system does not mean better coverage, better access to care or better survival rates when it comes to cancers and diseases. The system that everyone loves to talk about is Canada's national health care system. While it is true that Canadians live longer and are in generally better health than we are in the United States, this is a function of lifestyle and society as a whole, not the quality of health care delivered. For example: Recent studies on the survival rate of cancer patients in the United States as compared to Canada show that the Canadians suffer a significantly higher mortality rate for prostate cancer and other diseases compared to those in the United States. A 2004 report done by the Fraser Institute in Vancouver surveyed 28 industrialized nations and their health care expenditures. In the study, Canada spent the most money on health care as a percentage of GDP yet still managed to rank in the bottom half in numbers of physicians, MRI machines and CT scanners per capita. Just what are the Canadians getting for such expensive premiums? The answer is very simple: Not much. I recently had the pleasure of attending a conference in Washington, D.C., that was attended by a number of Canadian provincial legislators and candidates for public office. Each of them warned me about the dangers of state and government-run medicine. Their chief complaints were the length of wait for basic services. One woman explained that Canadians would have to wait in excess of six months for simple arthroscopic knee surgery! They explained that while everyone has health care, not everyone can actually get the care they need because the wait is so long to see even their own doctor. The ability to see a specialist is even more lacking. If a Canadian's private doctor doesn't think you need a referral to see a specialist, there is no second opinion. So then, if government-controlled health care is not the solution, then what should be done? The answer is to tear down the bureaucratic red tape and administrations that currently overwhelm the health care system and inflate its costs. Americans don't actually pay for the total cost of the health care we receive. The premiums we pay for health insurance mask the true cost of care in the United States. By surrendering our money — and consequently our power to influence prices — to corporate or government bureaucracies, we allow others to determine what we pay for our own health care. We wouldn't do that when we go to buy a car or a new TV. Why on earth would we do it when it comes to our health? To place us, the patients, back in control of the cost of health care is to pay for it ourselves. There are many, many people who pay high premiums for health insurance but do not use that money each month. That money is lost to administrative red tape and artificially high costs of services. There is no benefit for the person who actually paid the premium, and that money is lost. Health care — its costs and availability — must be addressed. However, a government-run system such as the kind that is failing in Canada is not the answer. Giving power to people — not through government or bureaucratic control but through the power of choice and private enterprise — will be the key to lowering costs and improving health care in Wisconsin. It's really quite simple: Should the government have control over your health care, or should you? Mike Hahn ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in history and political science.