If the health care system in this nation is going to be reformed to open the doors to care for millions of uninsured Americans, someone is going to have to pay the bill for that costly but worthwhile goal. That’s a fact.
Democrats will tell you they can change the way health care is delivered in this nation and actually decrease its cost. However, the details to their answer to the health care reform puzzle tell another story, and it’s one that contains many expensive chapters for us as individuals and as a nation.
Democrats want to create 53 new offices, bureaus, commissions, and other layers of bureaucracy and introduce or expand 33 entitlement programs to create a government-run health care program. The price tag for their brand of change - $1.6 trillion.
To pay for it, Democrats propose levying a surtax on high-income filers - more than half of whom are small businesses - to generate $544 billion over 10 years. Amazingly, that still only pays for half of their plan.
Another $208 billion comes in the form of a payroll tax on all small businesses that cannot afford to offer their employees health insurance. A study by Harvard Professor Kate Baicker indicates that a minimum of 5.5 million workers will be “at substantial risk of unemployment” as a result of these provisions. Just to put that in perspective, since the recession began in December 2007, the nation has lost 6.5 million jobs.
Finally, Democrats want to cut almost half a trillion dollars from Medicare and Medicaid - the very same programs that reimburse hospitals and doctors at such a low level that they have to charge private plans 33% more just to make up for the difference.
The remaining $239 billion Democrats do not even attempt to pay for; they simply add it to our national debt.
Democrats apparently don’t understand that imposing a bureaucrat-run health care that increases costs, leads to fewer jobs, higher taxes, and less health coverage might not be a good use of taxpayer money. When unemployment is at a 26-year high and individuals and families struggle on a daily basis to make ends meet, the last thing Congress should be doing is legislating a bill that will cost $1.6 trillion on an already ailing economy.
Republicans, on the other hand, are for health care reform that lowers cost while maintaining the right of patients to choose their own doctor and get care when they need it.
First, small business owners and others who are not able to benefit from economies of scale should be able to form associations to purchase health insurance. This will make health insurance more affordable for thousands of employers and thus available to millions of currently uninsured employees.
Second, we need to bring about malpractice reform. Defensive medicine - the practice of ordering tests and procedures that aren’t needed to protect a doctor from frivolous lawsuits - wastes over $100 billion a year, accounting for 12% of all health care expenditures. Florida ranks 6th in the nation for mean medical malpractice payments. Not surprisingly, medical liability premiums have skyrocketed 2,000% since 1975. It would be a scandal to not include defensive medicine in any meaningful reform.
Lastly, Republicans believe in eliminating burdensome regulations, like those that currently restrict consumers from purchasing coverage across state lines. By making the market more efficient and transparent, costs will drop and consumer satisfaction will rise. In all, Republican solutions do not raise your taxes or increase the national debt by a single cent.
We know the cost of doing nothing to address skyrocketing costs is enormous. But the bill for paying for ill-conceived change is even higher. Before we get to the cash register, we should remember that someone is going to have to pay the tab.
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