Hello. Dr. Keith Smith with you – Surgery Center of Oklahoma. Thank you for joining me in this series.

I wrote an op-ed piece recently for the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons called “Repeal and Replace? No thanks!” This was confusing to some people; they thought I was a big fan of Obamacare because I didn’t want it repealed. Actually, I said “Repeal and replace? No thanks.” Because I was not interested in the shakedown that will come from the Republican party’s version of Obamacare – something I call O’Connellcare. It will be no better. It will simply be a shakedown of all the players that are at the table that are seeking favors from whatever new plan Washington has for us.

In response to writing this, somebody on Facebook – let’s call him Dan – he said ‘you want to tear all this down and repeal Obamacare, but what is your plan?” This really struck me because my response to him is this: “My plan for whom? My plan for you, Dan?” I don’t have a plan for Dan. And I hope Dan doesn’t want me to have a plan for Dan. I hope Dan has a plan for Dan. I don’t want to make a plan for anyone other than myself. And I don’t think I have any business making a plan for anyone else.

That is true, fatal conceit if you cannot admit that. That is the theme of Hayek’s ‘Road to Serfdom’, where central planners believe that they can plan for others. They can plan what people’s priorities should be for how they live their lives, spend their money and on and on…

I don’t have a plan. I think everyone should have their own plan. People that ask for a plan want a systematic plan and that invariably involves government and it’s invariably therefore in healthcare, a mess. I do not think central planning is a good idea, regardless of which side of the aisle it comes from. I don’t believe Republicans are any better at planning and ordering our lives for us than the Democrats. So I don’t have a plan. That is my plan – to not have a plan for others.

I think we can pretty much all take care of ourselves and locally, we can be charitable and take care of our neighbors who are having difficulty taking care of themselves. But we should stop looking to Washington D.C. for these kinds of solutions.

Thank you for joining me. We will see you next time.