THE GOP´S HEALTH CARE IDEAS IGNORE AMERICA´S NEEDS
Gary Ater
August 04, 2009
…The "unimaginative" Governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty
The governor of Minnesota, Mr. Tim Pawlenty, (a potential GOP candidate for president in 2012), has written a recent article for the Washington Post that lays out one of the only real health care alternatives to be offered by the Republicans. This is actually very refreshing because, up to this point, all the GOP´s ideas have been for every American; "to set up a personal health care savings account, don´t get sick and die early".
Now, the governor´s plan is for the federal government to just follow what the states have done regarding their health care programs. (And we all know how well all the states have done as so many of them are currently operating on the verge of bankruptcy.)
However, Governor Pawlenty is correct when he states that; "If you tie [health care] money to medical results, you'll get better results." This statement means that we should stop paying as we do today, based on the number of procedures a doctor performs and instead, start paying based on good medical results. That part of the governor´s plan makes very good sense.
Unfortunately, once you get past this concept, the governor then falls back to supporting a version of what we already have in today´s current, private health care coverage.
His approach seems to continue having programs where the patient must only choose a doctor that is part of the chosen provider´s health care network. The patient must also only use the network´s approved clinics and hospitals. In addition, the governor then levels a slam at the Democrats for "tinkering with a Washington takeover of the health-care system".
Apparently, Governor Pawlenty thinks that the current "for-profit" private health care companies are still a good idea. He thinks that all that´s needed is a change in how the doctor´s are compensated and for some improvements in the results from the current overall system. Otherwise, all else is OK with today´s health care in America....Riiight!
The governor also totally denigrates the part of the Congressional progressive´s plan that offers access for everyone. His feeling is that; "Greater focus should be placed on containing costs for the vast majority of Americans who already have insurance." He goes on to say; "Those costs will not be contained by a massive expansion of federal programs."
Governor Pawlenty ignores the fact that a "public option" for everyone would achieve exactly what his concerns are of lowering the costs for current health care participants. And in addition, it would allow access for those without health care that the taxpayers now already pay double, just to cover their emergency room visits. He of course, also does not acknowledge that today, Americans pay almost double per person for health care than any other industrialized nation, and that´s still with almost 50 million Americans not being covered.
Governor Pawlenty does correctly state that; "Democrats in Washington want a government-run plan that would require states to comply with dozens of new mandates and regulations." But he fails to say that the mandates that are being considered would require that if an insurance company wants to participate in offering health care insurance to all Americans, they must drop their "existing conditions" provisions. In addition, they would not be able to get between the needs of the patient and the care prescribed by the patient´s doctor, (as they do today).
The real disappointing part of the governor´s article is where he tries to use study data provided by the Lewin Group stating that "an estimated 114 million Americans could be displaced from their current coverage under the Democrats plan", and another study by House Republicans that said "the plan could result in the loss of up to 5 million jobs over the next 10 years".
I´m sorry, but a questionable report from a medical study organization (Lewin Group) that is owned by the United Health Care Group, one of the largest private health care organizations in the world, plus another partisan report by House Republicans, is not my idea of how to present a fair and unbiased review of the most important social issue of our time. Whatever happened to real, comprehensive "third party studies?"
The governor was very correct when he stated: "Congress has an opportunity to take a genuinely bipartisan approach to health-care reform, which is unquestionably needed." Unfortunately, the concept of any real number of the GOP members of Congress coming together with the Democrats, "just ain´t going to happen".
The party of "NO", knows that if after doing nothing about health care for the past 30 years, if the Democrats do get a public option through Congress that works out for all Americans, the GOP will then be left out of power for a good, long generation. The Republicans will therefore, fight this issue to the very end.
And to top off his article, the Governor had the nerve to quote the "un-distinguished", formerly disgraced, Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, who today, now runs his own DC lobbying firm. Mr. Gingrich had said the following: "Congress is considering a 1975 socialized medicine model, brought up 34 years later by people who have been in Congress since the early 1970s. The world has moved on. It's time for Democrats in Congress to catch up. Washington can and should do better."
Actually, as expected, it´s Newt that needs to "move on".
The plan from back in 1975 did not have most of the requirements that the Democrats are insisting on today. This is because the "for-profit health care companies" have learned more and better ways to fleece the public of their monies with their virtual monopoly of today´s private health care programs. (How else can theses companies, such UHC, post a last quarter profit of 155% in today´s down economy…?)
The Democrats in Congress are the ones that have moved on, and most of them are trying to give the public what they want and deserve, and have deserved since back in the days of FDR and Harry Truman.
Copyright G.Ater 2009
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