The United States spends more on healthcare than any other industrialized nation and the recently passed Healthcare bill with its hidden taxes, new trust funds, and new federal departments does little to curtail overall spending and improve access. Healthcare is not a quality of care issue.
Our doctors, nurses, technicians, nutritionists, pharmacists and other healthcare providers are among the best in the world with the medical training and technical skills to meet the healthcare needs of every American. Malpractice law suites are not a healthcare issue.
Tort reform is an issue that must be addressed but not only as it applies to healthcare. While malpractice litigation is a problem, it is more of a tort reform issue than a direct healthcare issue. Malpractice insurance costs only accounted for approximately 4.8% of our total expenditure on Healthcare in 2010 and it is forecasted to remain less than 5% of the total cost in 2012. Healthcare is an economic issue.
 The United States is one of the richest countries in the world, spending more on healthcare than any other industrialized nation. Healthcare spending in the United States in 2010 was $2.57 trillion and, in 2011, while the final numbers are not in, spending is expected to exceed $2.6 trillion dollars. Cost Control is a Healthcare Issue.
Of the $2.6 trillion projected spending on healthcare in 2011, approximately one third or $858 billion will have been spent on administrative cost. This is a serious problem and more has to be done to rein in these costs. I am a proponent of a universal billing and automated record keeping systems. Records need to be automated to improve accuracy, prevent duplication of testing and reduce fraud. Access is a Healthcare issue. We must not ignore the importance of healthcare reform. All Americans should have access to health care for themselves and their families on their terms, not the government's terms. Outcomes are a Healthcare issue.
As an example, the infant mortality rate in the United States is higher than that of some impoverished countries. The CIA World Fact Book ranks the United States 42nd in infant mortality and the World Health Organization ranks the United States 37th in quality of care. These are statistics that every American should be ashamed of, especially those in a position to influence the transition of the Healthcare system in this country. | | Health Affordability Act of 2010
I am  appalled by the passage of the overly complex Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The passage of this legislation is leading to tax increases, massive spending, government mandates, another government bureaucracy and a price tag that will be borne by our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren. Obamacare is not the solution to the problem.
The passage of Obamacare was a sell out by conservative democrats and the largest turn this country has taken towards socialism in the last 70 years. We are well on the road to shredding the Constitution. Healthcare accounts for 1/6 of our economy and we cannot take a haphazard approach to reforming the system. I support repeal and/or defunding of the bill as passed by Congress. When repealed/defunded we can pass legislation that embraces free market principles, lowers cost, separately addresses tort reform and improves access to healthcare for all Americans. My plan includes, but is not limited to, the following: - Ability to purchase insurance across state lines.
- Increase insurance options providing for percentage based co-pays.
- Allow policy premiums to be tax deductible.
- Provide for policy portability between jobs.
- Couple high-deductible "catastrophic" policies with tax-free Health Savings Accounts.
- Establish subsidized high-risk pools.
- Raise the Medicare eligibility age to 67.
- Move Medicare to a means based premium system for high income individuals..
- Leverage automation to reduced administrative overhead which accounts for 1/3 of healthcare expendiatures..
- Allow small businesses to join together into cooperatives to obtain better rates, and provide for low-cost health insurance alternatives.
- Add flexibility to the Medicare prescription program allowing Medicare to negotiate and obtain better pricing.Eliminate the donut hole.
Healthcare should not be left up to HMOs, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies or bureaucrats in Washington. Healthcare belongs in the hands of medical professionals, ensuring that medical decisions are made in the doctor's office. |
