Health Care Your Turn
My Your Turn op-ed is in this morning’s St. Cloud Times. Here’s a little snippet from the post to pique your curiosity:
According to members of the Senate Finance Committee, the Democrats’ bills increase taxes by $500 billion, cut Medicare by $400 billion and dump the biggest unfunded mandate in U.S. history into states’ laps. It also causes health care costs to keep rising at an unsustainable rate and leaves 25 million people without insurance.
Simply put, that’s the heart of each of the Democrats’ health care plans. Here’s a simple set of questions that everyone should ask Democrats:
- Won’t increasing taxes increase health care costs?
- Won’t cutting Medicare by $404,000,000,000 while Medicare enrollment is increasing by 30 lead to rationing? Won’t those cuts likely hurt rural hospitals?
- Isn’t putting a Medicaid mandate on states avoiding taking responsibility for a federal government-initiated program?
- Why does this legislation still leave 25,000,000 uninsured?
- Isn’t the true cost to families, the federal government, insurance companies, manufacturing companies & state governments closer to $2,000,000,000,000?
- Will any of this stabilize or lower health care costs? If yes, how?
- Won’t insuring everyone cause health care spending to actually increase?
- Considering the FY2009 deficit was a record $1,420,000,000,000, can we afford another $2,000,000,000,000 in spending obligations over the next 10 years?
- Will the tax increases included in the Democrats’ health care plans stifle economic growth and job creation? If yes, doesn’t that mean we should rethink this legislation?
- Wouldn’t HSAs give people an incentive in using their health care dollars wisely? Shouldn’t that be our goal?
The Democrats’ health care legislation does little or nothing to address these questions. What’s worse is that the Democrats’ health care legislation does nothing to slow down health care spending. That’s because they’re starting with the wrong priorities.
The Democrats’ goal is to cover everyone, which sounds noble enough. We should reject universal coverage as the most important priority. Our first priority should be to make people health care shoppers whose first priority is to their family. That introduces the concept of accountability to the health care equation.
SIDENOTE: I’m not saying that we ignore those who can’t afford to be responsible.
Having a health care policy with a small co-pay or low deductible doesn’t give people an incentive to be wise health care shoppers. Ideally, a great affordable health insurance policy would cover annual physicals, important tests with a reasonable deductible and few mandates. If that was a standardized policy, health insurance premiums would drop while making health insurance alot more affordble. That policy would cover the important things while giving people and families the responsibility to be smart health care shoppers.
Frankly, I don’t see the downside to that type of policy. Doesn’t that raise the question why the Democrats’ legislation doesn’t have this as the centerpiece to true reform? HMMM.
Technorati Tags: Reform, Tax Increases, Medicare Cuts, Insurance, Premiums, Deductibles, Health Care, Tests, Physicals, Mandates, health Care Costs, Democrats
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
October 19th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Since the liberal/leftist/socialist mantra is to “tax the rich”, could someone with that mantra supply me with a list of unemployed/beggars/homeless who are looking for a valuable new employee?
Where the heck do those jackasses think jobs come from? The unicorns and pixie dust?