For a year beforehand and in ever increasing frequency and volume since his inauguration, President Man-Child has prattled and brayed about the “uninsured” in this country - the poor unfortunates he laments have no health insurance coverage. Based on this dubious statistic he wrings his hands and announces the time has come to act.

The time has come to put an end to this gross inequity, this glaring blotch on our already badly blotched record of human rights violations for which he has been genuflecting to the world with punctual obsequy since January 20.

His proposal is elegant in its simplicity and terrifying in the predictability of its logical conclusion: put the federal government in charge of administering health care benefits so that no one is left out of the loop and everyone gets quality, affordable health care.

You know…like they have in Canada (where it can weeks or months to get a simple MRI) and Great Britain (where women with advanced stages of breast cancer are refused treatment) or the Netherlands (where the elderly are pressured to commit suicide counseled on end-of-life issues).

We are told over and over again that 47 million people - 47 million of our fellow human beings - are without health insurance and therefore without health care. Mind you, even 47 million out of 300 million is 16%, which means that 84% of the population has medical insurance that enables them to pay for the best health care on the planet.

What a sad state of affairs that a political cartoonist must explain what the Obama regime administration and the state-run Drive-By media refuse to explain:

Note that not a single one of these is prevented from receiving medical care. By law, every emergency room in the country must administer medical assistance to any and all who request it and are in need of it.

What they lack is medical insurance coverage. Who are they?

18 million are people who can afford medical insurance but simply choose not to purchase it. Why? In some cases, a person who offers to pay for medical services directly and up front receives a substantial discount. Ultimately, it’s cheaper for them if they pay for services - even catastrophic care - literally in cash. This should be the big red flag that free market forces ought to be allowed to operate as they always do to lower prices.

84 million are in the 18 to 25 year old age bracket (ah, to be young again). This particular demographic - unlike the Pre-Geezer demographic to which I belong - labors under the delusion that it is immortal and therefore has no need for medical insurance coverage. Those who are thoughtful enough to consider catastrophic insurance coverage find they cannot find an affordable plan for such a contingency because state mandates force insurers to sell the coverage as complete packages, offering options the potential customer does not want or need.

12.6 million are illegal aliens who drain vital medical resources and services while contributing little or nothing to the system. Sealing the borders and enforcing existing immigration laws will go a long way to eliminating this as one of the reasons for the high cost of medical care and medical insurance. While I would never deny necessary medical treatment to any human in need of it, I would make it a policy to immediately deport any illegal alien who has received such treatment and then send the bill to their host country.

9.4 million are between jobs and either did not have a COBRA carryover plan or the plan they did have ran its course. Like any other statistic involving unemployment in a normal business cycle, this is a highly fluid and dynamic one with those involved moving out of the demographic when they find new work while others move in when they lose their jobs. Unfortunately, this is not a normal business cycle, but one purposely depressed by the Man-Child’s big government agenda. By driving up unemployment, he drives up the number of people in need of government assistance which he, of course, is happy to provide. The quid pro quo is their political fealty.

8 million of the “uninsured” are children would ordinarily be covered under their parent’s insurance plans but have not yet been signed up for the coverage. Like those who are in between jobs, this demographic is also highly fluid and dynamic, with a constant rate of turnover.

3.5 million are the “homeless’ or others of the vagrant and indigent population who are eligible for Medicare or Medicaid but have not enrolled in either of these programs.

Ultimately, the only group that has no option to purchase a private health insurance plan would be the chronically unemployed or the poor and indigent - a total of about 14 million people or 5% of the population.

For the sake of this 5% (for which the safety nets of Medicaid and SCHIP exist) the Democrats are proposing the destroy the best health care system in the world by turning it into a government-run nightmare - all for the sake of political power.

If they really wanted to reform the health care industry and make insurance premiums affordable they would do the following:

1. Reform the tort laws in this country to put an end to frivolous malpractice lawsuits and outrageous award settlements.This will drive down the cost of medical malpractice insurance and help eliminate needlessly redundant tests that are performed for no reason other than to preclude a lawsuit for negligence.

2. Eliminate state mandates on what insurance carriers can cover or not cover; allow the citizens of one state to purchase a la carte insurance from any other state. Rates would automatically go down as more people purchased policies crafted for their needs. More young people, for example, would purchase a catastrophic care policy if it was in their budget to do so. This, in turn, would increase the quantity of premiums received by the insurers and further lower prices for coverage.

3. Seal the borders and start tossing illegals out of the country. If they need medical care, fine, give it to them. Then toss them out and send the bill to their government.

4. Make health insurance coverage portable by giving employees the option to disengage it from employers. Grant a tax deduction for any money diverted to a health care savings account. By turning responsibility for the insurance over to the individual we likewise turn oversight for expenses over to the individual.

These four steps are simple but not easy. It’s up to us to make it happen. We the people must pressure our elected representatives to do the right thing as opposed to the politically expedient thing.