Click here to read my answers to some of the most common questions I’m hearing on the debate over health care reform.
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House Democrats have introduced the final version of their bill aimed at health care “reform.” Despite the outcry from many Hoosiers this summer, many portions of the bill remain exactly the same as the earlier proposals.
For example, this bill still calls for the implementation of a government-run plan. I have said repeatedly during this debate that any form of a public option—whether it’s robust, basic, triggered, or with a phony opt-out provision—will destroy private insurance. Eventually, the government option will be the only option. A single-payer system reduces choice, limits access to quality care, and factures the doctor-patient relationship.
This bill still imposes burdensome tax increases. To help pay for this nearly $1 trillion government takeover of health care, the bill includes a tax increase on individuals and small businesses and new taxes on medical devices and equipment.
This bill still has a job-killing employer mandate. Businesses will be forced to provide health insurance to their employees or face stiff fines. Those who can’t afford this increased cost of labor will be forced to hire fewer workers, cut workers’ hours, or layoff current employees.
This bill still includes a choice-restricting individual mandate. Washington bureaucrats will define what qualifies as health insurance, meaning patients have less flexibility to choose a plan that actually fits their needs.
This bill still implements meddling health advisory boards. Doctors and patients will soon face a plethora of new health benefits advisory boards, commissions, and czars—meaning less freedom for doctors to pursue the treatment option that is best for the patient.
This bill still ignores real medical liability reform. Real liability reform, not just a few studies here and there, would reduce the cost of health care, scale back the practice of defensive medicine, and decrease the federal deficit.
This chart, created by the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee, shows just exactly how complicated this bill could make our health care system.
