Washington DC is an incredible city! There is so much history and so much to do that it was a little overwhelming. Between all the meetings I was able to see many of the sights–however I plan to go back and spend another week or two. The main purpose of my visit to Washington DC was to visit the our Utah Federal legislators–and that I did.
I was able to visit with Senator Hatch, Senator Bennett, and Representative Chafetz (I live in his district). The good news is that they are all on the same page regarding the current health care/insurance reform legislation–they oppose it. They all seem to understand that health care reform should focus on reducing costs (which is the underlying problem) rather than focusing on access to health care through health insurance.
Visit with Senator Hatch
The democrats believe that if everyone where to be insured then they would have access to health care. On the surface this sounds correct, but when you look at the cost of insurance and the ongoing rise in health insurance inflation you will realize that getting people insured will not reduce costs. Actually it will increase costs because it will most likely increase demand faster than we can increase the supply of doctors and hospitals. When costs increase people stop buying insurance because it becomes unaffordable. When costs are too high many people will choose to go on welfare health insurance like Medicaid, PCN, CHIP, etc…. Who pays for all this? You and I pay for it through higher taxes (not to mention our future posterity). Getting everyone insurance might make us feel better but it does not solve the problem: cost.
Nation's Capitol
The republican’s proposal is directed more towards reducing costs first. They believe that if you reduce the costs in the health care system then health insurance inflation will stabilize or decrease and more people will be able to purchase health insurance. Fortunatley they seem to understand the root problem. Unfortunately I personally believe their proposal is too weak and does nothing more than half-heartedly promote more consumerism in the market to put downward pressure on costs. It’s a step in the right direction but not a silver bullet.
I have many ideas that I believe would truly reform our health care for the better by reducing costs, improving quality, and improving access. I plan on posting another article on that topic in the future. For starters the federal government could change the way Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, Veterans, Tri-Care, etc…pays for health care since the feds currently pay for about half of all health care. Those on the government rolls should have more skin in the game (personal responsibility), they should incentivize beneficiaries of these programs to find the best doc and the best price. They should not pay doctors on a fee-for-service reimbursement but rather require that docs have their prices transparent to the patient and allow the patient to negotiate price. If Medicare and other federal programs do not allow free-market principles to govern, then I do not see any hope in curbing health care inflation.
Supreme Court Building
As I met with these legislators, I tried to drive home the point that our current health care system is not a free market and until it functions like a free market costs will continue to go up. I let them know that many of my clients are having a hard time paying for health insurance and many have already dropped coverage because of cost. I asked them to do all they can to free our health care system so that costs go down, quality increases, and more people can afford insurance.
