By: Cathy Taylor
7/1/2012 06:56 AM
House Republicans soon will vote to repeal the heath care law that the Supreme Court just upheld. The November election may bring a new president and a Senate majority that will carry out the mission to replace the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. Democrats charge that those who oppose Obamacare have no ideas or alternative plans, but that is simply not true.
There is not only a different way to deliver health care, there is a better way to achieve better outcomes. Americans want less government in their health care decisions, not more. They seek the kinds of reforms that wrench the system away from government control and toward free markets, flexibility for states to address their particular concerns, choice for patients, competition among providers and toward structures that put decision making in the hands of those closest to the condition—doctors and patients. And, they want effective ways to control costs.
The Editors of Human Events did not have to look far to find free market health care concepts that are already in place and succeeding in various states and among private companies. Some initiatives are as modest as a private exchange in Utah serving a few thousand people, or as large as Medicaid reform in Florida. Thirty-five states have launched high risk pools, with varying degrees of accomplishment, but with plenty of track record to learn from.
The point is, Republicans have a lot to recommend, and they should pursue “repeal and embrace,” as one of our Special Focus: Health Care writers put it, in the Legislature. The Republican Study Committee last week released a 27-page document that lists more than 200 pieces of health care-related legislation introduced by members of the committee in the last 18 months.
For this Special Focus, we identified health care initiatives that are already succeeding and we asked people involved in those initiatives to write about them. Here’s what they had to say.
No. 1: A ‘defined contribution’ model is a key building block for free market plans
by Grace-Marie Turner
There are structural elements common to virtually all market-oriented health reform proposals to give consumers in both public and private plans more control and ownership over health care arrangements.
No. 2: How to save Medicare
Exclusive Q&A with House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
No. 3: Florida’s pro-taxpayer cure for Medicaid
by Tarren Bragdon
States seeking to improve patient health and save taxpayer dollars should look at Florida’s Medicaid Cure program.
No. 4: Exchange expanded coverage to small businesses in Utah
by Cheryl Smith
The Utah Health Exchange is not a regulatory entity, did not result in the establishment of a new state agency, and did not require any new mandates or taxes.
No. 5: ‘Account-based’ plans are bending the health care cost curve down
by Roy Ramthun
These insurance plans come with higher deductibles than most traditional plans and are paired with tax-preferred accounts, such as a health savings account or a health reimbursement account.
No. 6: High risk pools are workable alternative to costly pre-existing condition mandate
by Merrill Matthews
High risk pools, which charge a higher premium to those with pre-existing conditions, keep private health insurance pools large and more affordable.
___________________________________________
To read another article about Obamacare, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment