Legislation To Address Problems With Health Care System Should ‘Do No Harm,’ Opinion Piece States
U.S. residents are "dissatisfied with the health care status quo, and rightfully so," but the system "is not on the verge of collapse," Gary Andres, vice chair of Dutko Worldwide, and James Capretta, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, write in a Washington Times opinion piece. According to the authors, health insurance "for too many families is unstable, and the provision of health care is often inefficient, bureaucratic and of low quality," but most residents "still have good insurance and ready access to some of the finest medical institutions in the world."
As a result, the "first rule of health legislation, like medicine, should be 'do no harm,'" the authors write, adding, "Moreover, ... our health care system is too big, too complex and too dynamic for Washington politicians to 'fix' in one piece of legislation." The authors cite the health care proposal of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) as a "case in point." The authors write that Obama would "impose a job-killing 'play or pay' tax on every American employer; require all insurance to meet federally imposed standards; stand up a government-run insurance option built on arbitrary price controls with tens of millions of enrollees; and pile massive new federal entitlements on top of the unaffordable ones he does nothing about."
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) "has a far better plan," the authors write. McCain acknowledges that "too much centralized government control would put quality care at risk" and "favors a decentralized reform, with families exercising more power and control over their health care decisions," according to the authors. In addition, they write, McCain "would convert today's tax preference for employer-paid premiums into a refundable tax credit, which would foster the competition to deliver better coverage and services at a lower cost."
Recommendations
However, "even if Mr. McCain wins the presidential election, it will be difficult to pass a market-oriented plan in a Democratic Congress," and conservatives should prepare to "offer realistic options for covering segments of the uninsured even as they continue to push for the McCain reform vision," according to the authors. They recommend the establishment of a "new, private-sector option for job seekers" who lack health insurance or an "option to stay in a former employer's health plan" in which "employers arranged for the coverage to be funded in advance -- well before the financial distress of unemployment hits" (Andres/Capretta, Washington Times, 8/14).
