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Health care reform is needed
--
but it must be the right kind of change
By Rep. Dan
Roach
First, it was the banks.
Then the federal government took over major corporations, such as
insurance giant AIG and General Motors. Following that, Congress
initiated "cap and trade" legislation that would impose new energy
controls. Now the federal government wants to take over the most
personal of our choices -- health care.
Most people agree our
health care system is in trouble and needs significant revisions. If you
are one of the 11 percent in Washington state (15 percent nationwide)
who does not have health insurance and cannot afford health care, it is
a crisis. If you are one of those whose premiums have tripled in the last
10 years, it is a crisis. If you fear that a hospital visit or medical
procedure could send you and your family into bankruptcy, it is a
crisis. There are many reasons why health care needs to be reformed.
Unfortunately, it seems
these fears are sending Washington state and Washington, D.C. in the
wrong direction of a radical restructuring that means less choice and
more government control. We need reforms, but we need the right kind of
change.
I'm concerned people are
being misled by claims that they would be able to keep their doctors and
their current health plans. For example, under the proposed legislation,
carriers offering individual health care plans would be prevented from
accepting new enrollees beginning in 2013. That means those who have
individual plans will be paying more for their health insurance because
fewer people are in the risk pool. Those carriers would then also be
prevented from offering benefits for new treatments and new drugs.
So, under the federal
plan, you can indeed keep your insurance coverage -- that is, if
you can afford the higher premiums and are not interested in new
technology. The reality, however, is that these restrictions would force
millions of people out of their individual insurance plans and into the
government exchange where choices are limited and where bureaucrats
would decide which doctors you see and what treatments you would receive.
In addition, it's
estimated that government health care would cost as much as $1.042
trillion over the next 10 years. Employers who cannot afford this hefty
tax bill would likely be forced to cancel health insurance for their
employees. That means more Americans losing their current health
insurance and pushed into a government health care system.
In countries with
government-run health care, politicians make your decisions for you.
They decide if you’ll get the procedure you need, or if you are
disqualified because the treatment is too expensive or because you are
too old. Recently, the Vancouver Sun reported the government is
considering delays of more than 6,000 scheduled surgeries in an effort
to make up for a $200 million budget shortfall. That's not the kind of
health care system we need in the United States!
Here in Washington, the
Legislature recently addressed a $9 billion shortfall through several
ways, including cutting funding to the state's Basic Health Plan (BHP)
by 43 percent. This has led to drastic premium increases for this
subsidized health insurance program. It's estimated that 30,000 people
will lose their coverage because they cannot afford these increases.
Reform should not
be synonymous with a government takeover of our entire health care
system that could put the fiscal well-being of our nation at risk. It
should be the right kind of reform that keeps health care
patient-centered, rather than government-centered, protects the
doctor-patient relationship, lowers costs, provides more access to
treatment and doctors, protects the quality of health care with less
interference from insurance companies and government bureaucrats, and
provides assistance only to those who truly need it.
Several of my colleagues
and I have proposed such a plan. Our 10-point proposal would lead to
lower health care costs in Washington, reform the BHP, allow purchase of
affordable health insurance plans from other states, expand health
savings accounts, provide choices for small employers, offer tax credits
on health care plans, improve cost transparency, create core-benefit
plans for young adults, and capitalize on health-care provider
innovation. Our plan is based on the belief that people make better
decisions about their personal and individual health care needs than
politicians and bureaucrats.
As the national health
care debate continues, let's keep in mind something President Ronald
Reagan said: "Public servants say, always with the best of
intentions, 'What greater service we could render if only we had a
little more money and a little more power.' But the truth is that
outside of its legitimate function, government does nothing as well or
as economically as the private sector."
We can do better than
surrendering our health care system to the government. There is an
important role for government in health care, but reforms must be
focused on preserving what works, letting doctors and patients -- not
politicians -- make the decisions, and finally, helping those people who
truly cannot afford it.
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EDITOR'S NOTE:
State Rep. Dan Roach, R-Bonney Lake,
represents the 31st Legislative District. He can be contacted at (360)
786-7846 or from his Web site at:
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Roach.
For more information, contact:
John
Sattgast, Senior Information Officer: (360) 786-7257
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