In the next few days (or even hours), Congress will be voting on a sweeping and historic health care reform bill – even though President Obama has publically acknowledged this watered-down plan lacks broad appeal
I share in the President's frustration about this long and painful process toward reform. As a health insurance broker and a member of the New Jersey Association of Health Underwriters, I was genuinely enthusiastic about all that can be accomplished if Washington focused – once and for all – on health care reform.
But after a year of discussion, debate and those well-publicized town hall forums, there is still no true bipartisan plan that improves access to quality health care without risking our nation's financial security. The debate in Washington has been reduced to a nasty partisan slug-fest, with the public's interest taking the most punches.
Still, I believe the final bill is well-intentioned, but exacerbates our nation's economic crisis by driving up private health insurance costs so significantly that my clients – New Jersey families and businesses – will be priced out of coverage in this "reform" legislation.
In New Jersey – home to the highest property taxes in the nation – this is also one of the most expensive places to get sick. Hospitals are going bankrupt, consumers can't afford the care they need and weary doctors are wondering why they spent all those years in medical school.
We all know health care costs are rising at an unsustainable rate. Unfortunately, the plan now before Congress does little to rein in the costs and eliminate waste from a bloated health care system.
I tell my clients that true health care reform needs to ensure Medicare stays strong. It also must be fair to businesses, many of whom can't survive under the proposed government mandates that would require them to provide health care coverage (at a cost determined by the government.)
We don't need new market reforms that come at a cost so high that no one can afford to buy the coverage. And we most certainly do not need tens of billions of dollars in new taxes and insurer fees that will result in increased premium costs for those who can still actually afford private insurance.
We all must recognize how Washington works. Our President has staked his legacy on health care reform. Therefore, something will be done.
Yet, while Americans are desperate for health care reform, they are clearly not on board with the budget-busting bills currently under consideration.
The reform, as written, is unsustainable. As the President has repeatedly stated, government needs fundamental health care system reform or the promises it has already made—the Medicare and Medicaid entitlements, for example—will bankrupt the country.
What few cost containment elements that have been seriously considered are now either gone from the final bill or hopelessly negotiated down—most notably the "Cadillac" tax on expensive benefits and the Medicare cost containment commission.
In the waning days and hours before the impending vote, let's demand true health care reform that makes economic sense. Let's tell Congress that the plan adopted must reduce the cost of coverage, and must include reasonable and responsible efforts to make coverage affordable for more people.
NJAHU and others have long advocated for members of Congress and the Administration to work together in a bipartisan fashion to develop an affordable and responsible means of achieving the needed reforms. But we are also realistic. There is no such thing as a perfect bill.
If this legislation is adopted, and fails, it will be years before another ambitious President has the moxie to propose health care reform.
That's why we mustn't rush through a bill because of political pressures. The stakes are just too high.
Desmond Slattery of Wall is President-Elect of the New Jersey Association of Health Underwriters. He is also President of John J. Slattery Associates in Wall. He can be reached at 732.449.2890.
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In his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin tells how Dr. Thomas Bond approached him to ask his assistance in raising money to build a hospital in Philadelphia, the first in America. Franklin, then a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly, contributed his own money and sought financial assistance from the Assembly. When he met with resistance over the cost he drafted a bill with a contingency such that when the supporters raised 2000 pounds through private subscription that the Assembly would then pay 2000 pounds, in effect a 50/50 matching grant. Naysayers thought that they would never raise enough by private contributions but they did and the hospital was built.
Here may be a solution here to at least the financial element of the current health care legislation debate- calculate the annual cost, raise support by voluntary contributions, and when half the money is raised fund the rest. The cost to taxpayers would be much less and support for the programs would be clearly demonstrated.
The current problem is more complicated than this but with respect to funding this approach might be a good compromise and a fitting tribute to a great conciliator and the founders of America’s first hospital.