MANHATTAN, Kan. (UWIRE) — There is no question that there are imperfections within the American health care and insurance industry, but what are the real issues at hand?First thing’s first: Of the 47 million uninsured people, only a portion of them actually cannot afford health insurance. According to a study done by the Employment Policy Institute, of the 47 million, about 43 percent can afford health insurance but choose not to purchase it. This group is vastly made up of 18- to 30-year-olds who would rather spend their money on other things. Of the remaining 57 percent, about 40 percent did not work in the last year, and about one-third are illegal immigrants.Perhaps there is an underlying societal problem. If the 57 percent are not able to afford health care, then why do many of them have brand new flat screen TVs on the wall? The fact of the matter is a majority of people who utilize government programs lack initiative. I understand there are people who need assistance, however, government programs have also rewarded people for their lack of initiative.Everyone in our society is trained to be a victim from the time they hit the public schools. We are all victims of someone else’s racism, sexism, greed, our circumstances, our fathers, our mothers, the region of the country we were born in, etc. But at what point are we responsible for our own circumstances?Tort reform could be used to help solve this problem, which effectively puts limits on the amount of money a doctor can be sued for. Undeniably there needs to be a system in place to hold doctors accountable for when there is a true occurrence of malpractice, but people also need to learn they cannot just sue uncontrollably.Another issue is the cost of insurance. The president’s answer to these problems is to give people two choices: one being a government option and the other being a private sector option.However, his plan would effectively make private insurance so expensive that everyone would eventually be forced to move to the government option. People would still pay for their health coverage via taxes, surtaxes, fees and, of course, a regular payment.Instead, open up the state lines so the insurance companies all compete, which will bring prices down in addition to providing more coverage options to consumers. This might create an insurance environment that allows people with the worst pre-existing conditions to receive affordable health insurance.Our health is one of the most important decisions we have in our lives. Do you want to hand your health decisions over to a Washington bureaucrat?————–Contact The Daily Reveille’s opinion staff at [email protected]