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Hinkle says same approach
won't achieve better
results toward affordable health care
“As we look at the race to
spend our $1.4 billion reserve, it will be easy for some lawmakers to
ignore the rising long-term costs of our troubled health care system.
But it’s not just government facing these costs. Families and employers
will also be paying increasingly more for their health care in the
current marketplace,” said
Rep.
Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, who serves as ranking Republican on the
House Health Care Committee.
“The governor has drawn attention to five important health care issues
that need to be addressed. But her solutions employ more of the same
failed health care policies that have made it harder for families to get
access to affordable care. The Democrats’ 12-year experiment with
“Hillary Care” has resulted in more uninsured, skyrocketing premiums,
and dangerously few choices for families in our state who need health
coverage. Meanwhile we are losing doctors and can’t recruit new ones to
meet the health care needs of families in our state – especially in
rural communities.
“At the center of the debate is the role of state government in
addressing this crisis. The cost of health care as a percentage of total
state spending has reached 28 percent, and it’s still rising. How much
more will we spend to create even more costly government regulations?
Insurance carriers and health care providers are already addressing the
very issues raised by the governor. As lawmakers our role is to create a
climate that promotes healthy competition and innovation that will help
solve our health care challenges.
“Citizens want to maintain control of their health care choices, in
consultation with their family doctors. Rather than the governor’s
approach, which continues to hand over more of our health care choices
to state government, Republicans favor a competitive, consumer-driven
health care system that allows individuals to take responsibility for
their own health care choices. Our measure of success is based on three
performance indicators:
“Will it bring insurance providers back to our state to compete for our
health care dollars, which will bring prices down and make health care
more affordable for all our citizens?
“Will it help us recruit and retain doctors in communities throughout
the state so that access to care is improved?
“And will it change the culture of health care in our state, from where
the state controls our health care decisions and we deal with our health
on a crisis basis, to where choices remain with the individual, we keep
responsibility for our own care, and we offer incentives to make
informed, healthy choices about our health care providers and our own
future?”
# # #
For more information, contact:
John Handy, Assistant
Communications Director - (360) 786-5758
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