Real Health Care Solutions – Letting O Know

In his State of the Union Address Wednesday night, President Obama called on folks to let him know if there are better health care solutions he and congress should be considering:

As temperatures cool, I want everyone to take another look at the plan we’ve proposed…

…But if anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know.

He echoed this sentiment at today’s House GOP retreat. Some might say he was being sarcastic, reminding us of how hard it is to govern (especially in light of all he has inherited from you-know-who.) But that would be cynical, particularly in this post-partisan era.

Just before Christmas my colleague Peter Fotos and I penned a “wish list” of simple policy proposals that constitute substantive health care reform – and it didn’t even take 1,000 pages! The health care snitch line was disabled, so we’ll give the President the benefit of the doubt that it ended up in his spam folder.

President Obama and his Congressional allies talk a lot about the need to control health care costs and avoid pressure from special interests. Unfortunately, neither the House nor the Senate versions of “ObamaCare” that he called upon congress to reconsider withstand either litmus test.

Health care industry lobbyists have enjoyed unprecedented access to this White House during the crafting of both the House and Senate bills. Contrary to the President’s claim of upholding a standard of ultimate transparency, his White House fought tooth and nail to conceal the visitor logs that list these very guests. Despite his anti-industry rhetoric, President Obama has actually raked in record numbers of campaign contributions from the health care sector.

As a recent WellPoint study indicates, costs are expected to increase, not decrease, for most individuals and families well beyond forecast increases under the status quo. What’s more, there’s no shortage of political giveaways in the Senate bill–bribes for “on the fence” legislators to bring cloture to the bill, such as Ben Nelson’s “Cornhusker Kickback” and Mary Landrieu’s “Louisiana Purchase.”

Here’s a short wish list of three things not in any ObamaCare proposal that are absolutely essential for real health care reform:

Cross-State Purchasing

Obama and others have touted a “public option,” government health insurance, as a competitor that would “keep insurance companies honest.” One additional player in the market will do nothing, however, unless of course it has a competitive advantage, a claim these proponents adamantly dismiss as “fear-mongering.” In any case, the new player is unnecessary.

A loose interpretation of the Interstate Commerce Clause currently prevents the purchase of health insurance across state lines. Virtually all other forms of insurance–car, life, home–can be purchased by customers in a national, wide-open marketplace. If health care consumers were afforded the same freedom, individuals and families who reside in one state would be able to purchase more affordable health insurance domiciled or licensed in another state. Americans would no longer be restricted to the anti-competitive, counterproductive regulations and mandates governing the health insurance markets in many states.

This simple fix would multiply the markets consumers could access by a factor of fifty, allowing consumers to choose policies that fit their needs and budgets.

Tax Reform

It’s time to spread the health around. The federal tax code creates a bias favoring third-party payers of health insurance and puts individual purchasers at a disadvantage. This results in health care being owned by the federal government and employers instead of by individuals. Our health care system should empower people to make their own health care decisions, not subjugate them to HR managers and government bureaucrats. A system of refundable tax credits would remove third-party payers from the equation, leaving health insurance and health care decisions to individual consumers.

Tort Reform

Former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean famously admitted medical malpractice reform was left out of the health care reform debate because the authors “did not want to take on the trial lawyers.” But medical malpractice abuse is a primary driver of our nation’s skyrocketing health care costs. There isn’t a single provision in Democrat’s health care bills to address this.

Malpractice insurance and the need for “defensive medicine” make the practice of medicine unappealing and costly, reducing the number of primary care physicians and increasing costs to consumers. According to the American Medical Association, defensive medicine costs our health care system between $84 and $151 billion every year. In another AMA report, 45 percent of hospitals reported concerns over liability resulted in the loss of physicians or reduced coverage in emergency departments.

The regulatory and spending proposals currently on the table will at best avoid (though more likely exacerbate) the underlying problems of our current health care system. No amount of bureaucratic shell games or grandstanding against special interests will change that.

It needn’t take thousands of words and bitter, partisan battles to enact significant change that will help millions of Americans get affordable health insurance. If the President and his allies in Congress are serious about health care reform, they should start from scratch and consider serious solutions.