"We need full transparency and empowerment of patients and doctors to make wise decisions. We must renew and restore the sanctity of the patient-doctor relationship. We need to stop pretending that health care can be 'free,' stop calling premium price prepaid care 'insurance,' and use market forces like choice and competition to cut our bloated costs. 'Insurance' needs to 'insure' against the unexpected, not pay for the routine.

I am a proud independent physician. Taking care of patients is what I know. It is what I do best.

Get the government and the insurance company out of my exam room and let us all do what we do best. Patients will be the ultimate winners."

Mary Tipton is an internal medicine-pediatrics physician.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Why socialized health care is not right for America." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/10/why-socialized-health-care-is-not-right-for-america.html)