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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (329064)	10/14/2009 2:47:48 PM
From: KLP	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 794257

There's a better way to address national health care reform By Paul Ryan house.gov Oct. 11, 2009 It is often a surreal experience traveling between Wisconsin and Washington. In Janesville, we're concerned, first and foremost, about getting jobs and economic growth back to southern Wisconsin. We agree that we ought to fix what's broken in health care but aren't too sure about Washington's prescription. We're also anxious about the unsustainable expansion of government, along with the Packers' offensive line. In Washington, it is all health care, all the time. For those who have yet to fall in line, you're branded as a mindless obstructionist or worse. Let's bridge this gap, and make some sense of the health care debate. There are fundamental differences on how to tackle the fundamental drivers of exploding costs, while ensuring access to quality, affordable health coverage for all Americans. The trillion-dollar, thousand-page bills making their way to the floors of the House and Senate include many troubling components of concern for Wisconsinites. The drastic cuts to Medicare Advantage plans would devastate more than 200,000 Wisconsin seniors enrolled in these plans. A massive expansion of Medicaid eligibility would impose even greater financial burdens on already cash-strapped states, not welcome news in light of the recent suspension of Badger Care Plus enrollment. In addition to asking seniors and states to do more with less, the costly overhauls would hit Wisconsin families and employers already struggling to make ends meet with massive new tax hikes, additional mandates, restrictions and penalties. The proposals create a costly new health care entitlement, exacerbating the fiscal burdens we pass to our children. There is a better way forward. We can address the problems in health care without the government taking it over. Here are a number of reforms that I have proposed to reorient health care around the individual, bringing the forces of true choice and competition to health care: • We must equalize the tax treatment of health care, which currently hides and inflates the true cost of coverage, discriminating against the unemployed and self-employed. A more equitable solution would be to offer universal, refundable tax rebates for all Americans to purchase health coverage. • Innovative risk adjustment mechanisms, reinsurance or risk pools would help extend coverage to those with pre-existing and chronic medical conditions. • Individuals who reside in one state should be able to buy a more affordable health insurance plan in another state. We should open up these markets and allow true competition to help drive down health care costs. • Making data on the pricing and effectiveness of health care services transparent and widely available is critical for the functioning of an effective health care marketplace. For individuals and families to shop for their health care, they must have a better sense of what they are expected to pay - and what they are getting for their money. • We must enact meaningful medical malpractice reform to combat the practice of doctors overtreating and overprescribing patients for fear of legal retribution. • We must fulfill the mission of health security for America's seniors and low-income populations. Rather than cut benefits or shift burdens onto states, meaningful reforms to Medicare and Medicaid will help strengthen these programs in the near term and ensure the sustainability of these critical programs for future generations. Many of the reforms above are a part of my fiscally responsible, patient-centered health care alternative - H.R. 2520 - The Patients' Choice Act. While we work to bring the forces of choice and competition to health care, I owe it to my employers - the residents in southern Wisconsin - to offer you a choice on better policies and innovative ideas to tackle this critical issue. Rep. Paul Ryan, a Republican, represents Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District.