Leading reform effort

July 22, 2009

NewsOK.com

By Rep. Mary Fallin

It is well-documented that medical care in the United States is too expensive, inaccessible for too many Americans and responsible for too much of our federal spending. Unless we are able to reform this flawed system, we will one day wake up to a crisis that not only affects the health of our citizens, but represents a serious threat to the economic security of working families and the financial viability of businesses in Oklahoma and elsewhere.

The seriousness of this situation has led to a national consensus in favor of health care "reform.” Reform can be a double-edged sword, however, and poorly conceived plans for reform can actually make things worse.

Unfortunately, Washington appears headed in the wrong direction. The Obama administrations's plan, specifically its inclusion of a public health care option, would be ripe with unintended consequences. They call this plan the public "option” because technically no one would be forced off their current health insurance. The reality, however, is that any public health plan would be heavily subsidized and would undercut the private insurance market, leaving us with nothing except government-run health care.

Such a system, where tens of millions of Americans were suddenly taken off private plans and placed instead on government-funded plans, would cost around $1.6 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.  To pay for that cost increase, the president would most likely be forced to dramatically raise taxes on all Americans.

He would also create a system under which a government agency is in charge of rationing care to cut costs as far as possible. That means government bureaucrats would decide which types of medical treatments would be available to you. What was once a doctor-patient relationship would become a bureaucrat-patient relationship.

Ultimately, the president’s plan is going to give us less for more: reduced quality at a higher price.

Still, doing nothing is not an option. Health care is too expensive and we have too many Americans who go without it or live in fear of losing coverage.

I believe Oklahomans are ready to lead the way forward, developing real reform that would cut costs without decreasing quality or levying devastating tax increases.  Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn has introduced legislation aiming to make health coverage portable, create state-level health care exchanges to allow competitive shopping and encourage wellness and prevention. There are some good ideas in there, and they deserve our serious consideration.

On the state level, the Insure Oklahoma program has helped many employers supply their workers with health insurance under a flexible approach that allows private insurers to provide coverage.

Oklahoma has focused on those most in need of health coverage without creating a massive new government bureaucracy or higher taxes. We are moving forward. The federal government would do well to follow our lead.

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