Congress Should Enact Legislation Expanding MSAs, Allowing Insurance Pools, Op-Ed Says

In order to reduce the number of uninsured, Congress should pass legislation addressing the lack of access, affordability, portability and choice in employer-based managed care plans, Douglas Hawthorne, president and CEO of Texas Health Resources, a faith-based, not-for-profit health care delivery system, writes in a Ft. Worth Star-Telegram op-ed. By enacting "exciting and innovative ideas" such as medical savings accounts, health plan purchasing pools for small businesses and medical malpractice reform, Congress could begin to reduce the "layers of red tape" and the number of mandated benefits that increase the cost of health insurance. Douglas contends that increases in health plan premiums -- up 7.2% on average nationwide in 2000 -- will force some companies to stop offering health coverage to their employees. In addition, the "softening economy" will lead to job cuts and an increase in people without health insurance. Hawthorne concludes, "The uninsured are victims of a classic vicious circle: More government red tape increases costs, which in turn swells the ranks of the uninsured. There's only one way to break out of this cycle, and that is to get more individual Americans into a true health insurance" (Hawthorne, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, 3/25).