Commentary

Health reform that people could get behind

by Annette Meeks

The president was in Minnesota over the weekend, following up on last week's speech to a rare joint session of Congress. In both of those appearances he tried to rejuvenate his plans to reform the American health care system.

President Obama has delivered scores of speeches wholly focused on health care or largely concerned with health care. Yet, the American people aren't buying these Democratic prescriptions for health care reform.

After a contentious August recess, a majority of the people remain skeptical about pending congressional plans to overhaul what amounts to one-sixth of the American economy. That's bad news for the president and the congressional leadership who have driven much of the debate thus far.

I will, however, give the president his due: He was spot-on when, in his remarks to Congress, he described our health care fears. Americans do worry about pre-existing conditions and our inability to obtain insurance coverage in the private market. We stay in jobs we don't like for fear of losing our health care benefits. But most of all, we worry about Washington making things even worse.

We want change -- but we want to make sure that Washington doesn't screw this up. So what can be done?

Last week, the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota, a nonprofit educational organization of which I'm president, released a report that outlines why much of what is being debated in Congress is the wrong medicine for Minnesotans. That report, "Prognosis for National Health Insurance: A Minnesota Perspective," agrees that our American health care system is in dire need of reform.

Our disagreement with most of the plans working their way through Congress arises from the end results they would produce for Minnesota taxpayers. Minnesotans would pay higher taxes, see an increase in future federal budget deficits, an increase in state spending and slower economic growth. Amazingly, all of this occurs while leaving tens of thousands of our friends and neighbors still without medical coverage.

Rather than highlight why this is the wrong prescription for the American health care system, the report puts forth a set of comprehensive reform ideas worthy of discussion. We urge Congress and the president to consider our recommendations as an important first step in real health reform. For example:

Individuals should own their own insurance policies. The tax deduction that allows employers to purchase your insurance should instead be given to individuals, who can then purchase the correct amount of insurance for themselves and their family. Let's face it: A single male in his 20s doesn't need the same amount of coverage as a family with a middle-aged mom and dad.

Congress should better leverage Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) to empower individuals to monitor their health care costs and create incentives for individuals to spend those dollars on necessary services. The explosion in the popularity of Lasik eye surgery and its competitive pricing provide a great illustration of what happens when you unleash consumers to shop around for health care services they desire and pay for those services with their own money.

We should allow interstate purchasing of insurance. Policies in some states are more affordable because they include fewer "bells and whistles." Minnesota leads the nation in the number of benefits that we require every insurance carrier to provide to every policy holder. Consumers should be allowed to decide which benefits they need and what price they are willing to pay for those services.

Along those same lines, it would be helpful if we reduced the number of mandated benefits insurers must cover. Currently, all of the health care legislation working its way through the various congressional committees requires insurance companies to honor all existing state mandates.

We should reallocate the majority of Medicaid spending into simple vouchers that low-income individuals could use to purchase their own insurance. An income-based sliding-scale voucher program would eliminate much of the massive bureaucracy that is needed to implement today's complex and burdensome Medicaid system. In addition, we believe it would garner considerable taxpayer savings.

It would be helpful if reform legislation eliminated unnecessary scope-of-practice laws and allowed non-physician health care professionals to practice to the extent of their education and training. Minnesota has led the nation in this area with health care providers such as Minute Clinic, which provide transparent pricing, consumer convenience as well as low prices for routine health care.

Finally, we must reform tort liability laws. Defensive medicine needlessly drives up medical costs and creates an adversarial relationship between doctors and patients.

Reforming health care won't be easy. But if Congress and the president adopt the common sense solutions we've outlined in our report, they can make important changes that will help insure that every American, including our children and grandchildren, will have access to affordable and quality health care. That's a legacy worth fighting for.

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Annette Meeks is founder and CEO of the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota, which describes itself as an independent, nonprofit educational and research organization that actively advocates the principles of individual freedom, personal responsibility, economic freedom, and limited government.