Practical Health Care Reform

Cautiously members of Congress are again quietly talking about passing a health care bill. The House wishes to change the Senate bill and the Senate is considering passing the altered bill by reconciliation which would only require 51 “aye” votes. This would be a gigantic mistake. The country is against both health care proposals and would be incensed if a combined bill was passed using a parliamentary trick.

Congress needs to scrap the House and Senate bills. They are toxic. Congress needs to start over with a bi-partisan bill. There are a number of areas of agreement. There are logical steps that would truly improve health care without a governmental take-over.

1. Tort Reform is essential – real tort reform not token tort reform. A “losers pay” system would greatly reduce frivolous law suits. If doctors didn’t have the threat of these frivolous suits hanging over their heads, they would not order unnecessary tests.
2. No one should be excluded from obtaining health care insurance because of a preexisting condition.
3. Do not gut Medicare as more and more seniors enter the system. The government made a promise. It needs to keep it. However we need to actively seek to cut the fraud in both Medicare and Medicaid. Why aren’t we already doing this?
4. Citizens should be able to purchase insurance across state lines. How can Congress justify regulating health insurance under the commerce clause, if we can not purchase it across state lines? We can buy everything else nationally. We should be able to purchase the health insurance that best suits our needs.
5. We need more doctors. The federal government should offer full scholarships for primary care doctors-to-be if they will work seven years in a free clinic for a set salary.

Most in Congress would agree to these five steps. Congress needs to drop their agendas and enact common sense solutions. Do not complicate the issue. This should not be about gaining power but about doing the right thing for the country.

Signed,
The Electorate

Meaningful Tort Reform Needed

Throughout the health care debate one group has been suspiciously silent – attorneys. Of course nothing has been proposed that would restrict or harm them. Could this be because so many legislators are attorneys and wish to protect their own or is it because they donate such large amounts to political campaigns?

If Congress truly seeks to contain the rising costs of health care, tort reform MUST be addressed and it must be meaningful tort reform. Frivolous laws suits need to be eliminated and doctors must be allowed to stop practicing defensive medicine. Costs will drop if unnecessary tests are no longer ordered and malpractice insurances rates are lowered. Some have suggested a study of tort reform. This is merely a way to shelf tort reform and hope it is forgotten. We do not need a study. Some states have already enacted tort reform. That is your study. In Texas malpractice law suits have decreased by over fifty percent. Frivolous law suits no longer clutter its legal system. The cost of malpractice insurance has dropped by forty-five percent. Tort reform works. Only the lawyers don’t approve.

The American Bar Association’s lobby is powerful, but Congress must stop catering to it. The welfare of American citizen should be more important to our legislators than the interests of a select, powerful few. Even with tort reform lawyers will prosper.

A Practical Health Care Solution

I would like to suggest a condensed health care plan.

1. Doctors – not bureaucrats - determine appropriate treatment.

2. Don’t gut Medicare to pay for health reform.

3. No one should be excluded because of a pre-existing condition.

4. Provide full scholarships for primary care doctors.

5. Enact real tort reform – cap “pain and suffering” awards and instigate a “loser pays” policy for medical malpractice suits.

6. Allow citizens to buy health care insurance across state lines.

7. Subsidize premiums for low income families.

8. Drop the public option. It is too expensive for both the country and its citizens.

Please do not try to hide controversial items in lengthy, convoluted bills. Read the bills and make them available to the public at least five days before Congress votes on them. Be open and transparent. Respect the intelligence of your constituents.

Signed,
The Electorate

Health Care: Spending

This country can’t afford a large government run health care plan. Claiming “we can’t afford not to” is not a logic or legitimate excuse. Congress has already spent all the money we have and more. Congress spent 787 billions dollars on a stimulus bill that didn’t stimulate. Congress passed a 410 spending bill with nearly 9,000 earmarks. Congress expanded SChip to families that earn over $80,000. The government is spending money they do not have on things we do not want or need. There is nothing left to spend. No one wants to loan us more money. If we continue to print money, that is not backed, we risk runaway inflation. No government or family can continue to spend money they do not have. Your bank account is empty. Stop writing checks.

The majority of Americans do not want a government run, government controlled health care plan anyway. Congress needs to pass health care reform that Americans actually want. We want health care that we control. We want tort reform to help lower costs. We need to eliminate needless tests and frivolous law suits. We want a wide assortment of plans, which can also be purchased across state lines; so, that we can select the plan that is best for us. We want no person to be excluded because of a pre-existing condition. We are willing to subsidize premiums f or those who “truly” need it. We want more doctors and nurses. The government could provide scholarships to those seeking to enter these fields. In return these new doctors and nurses could agree to work in clinics for a set number of years. Congress needs to pursue solutions that will actually work instead of a utopia they think they can create.

Signed,
The Electorate