By Congressman Tom Price

Right now, Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are working to construct sweeping proposals to reform America’s health care delivery system. Some believe they are able to capture huge political good will with their demagoguery. With such a challenge, scores of ideas are being thrown around, often without proper scrutiny. As important as putting the right pieces in place to ensure patients have access to the best care, we must also fully understand the impediments to appropriate patient-centered health care that have been proposed.

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To construct a sustainable, modern 21st century health care system, we must consider a wide range of ideas. There remain, however, a handful of destructive proposals that are gaining traction, threatening the future of quality health care in America. These include a government-run “public option”, mandating that either employers provide health care insurance for their employees or that individuals must, under punishment of law, purchase health insurance on their own, and reliance upon a national health care rationing board under the guise of a quality board. As these proposals would perilously harm a patient’s access to quality health care, they must not be a part of any responsible reform package.

Public Option

Having learned a few things from their last health care debacle, Democrats recognize that a government-run system remains wildly unpopular. To get around this obstacle to Washington control, many Democrats, including President Obama, have proposed the creation of a “public option” to “compete” with private insurers. This is nothing more than a backdoor path to a government takeover of health care.

Since these public plans will be subsidized through higher taxes, private insurers will be at an obvious competitive disadvantage. As private plans will not be able to match the almost unlimited pockets of the federal Treasury, millions of Americans will be ushered and coerced into a government-run system, unsuspecting of the limits on their access to care. How long do we expect it will take CEOs looking to clean up their bottom line to suggest employees enter the public system?

Without a massive and costly penalty on employers for such a practice, we will see a dramatic shift from the private sector to the public roles. It is estimated that 120 million Americans would be crowded out of the personal, private care they enjoy if a public plan is implemented. Simply put, a public plan will almost assuredly put an end to personal private health insurance.

Mandates

Consistent with their ideals of punishing people for making decisions contrary to the goals of Democrat leaders, Congressional Democrats have proposed mandating health insurance for individuals as well as demanding that businesses provide coverage for their employees. If the mandates are not met, both individuals and employers would face harsh financial penalties.

As a conservative, placing federal dictates over personal responsibility is always troubling. Yet the idea of a federal mandate is dangerous for a more important and less obvious reason. For the government to mandate the purchase or supply of health care, the government must first define what qualifies as “health care”. When the government threatens to fine an employer or tax an individual for non-compliance, it must first set a federal definition of care or coverage. This may seem like a formality, but it holds tremendous power over the ability of patients to access the care that meets their individual needs.

Certainly, a 55-year old woman with three children and a family history of breast cancer would have different health care needs than a single healthy 23-year old man. Yet with the federal government’s one-size-fits-all approach, these two would be forced to have the same coverage to satisfy a government mandate. Ushering a 20-something into a plan designed for someone 30 years senior is the type of inflexibility that leads to a severe lack of personal health care and destruction of the responsiveness that our health system demands. Such a system ignores the simple fact that different people have different needs – something unrecognizable to a liberal, leftist majority.

Rationing Board Continued...