U.S. residents are "disgruntled with the health attention status quo, and rightfully so," only the system of rules "is not on the verge of collapse," Gary Andres, vice chair of Dutko Worldwide, and James Capretta, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, write in a Washington Times opinion piece. According to the authors, health insurance "for too many families is unstable, and the provision of wellness care is often inefficient, bureaucratic and of low quality," but most residents "still get good insurance policy and quick access to some of the finest medical institutions in the world."
As a result, the "first rule of wellness legislation, care medicine, should be 'do no damage,'" the authors drop a line, adding, "Moreover, ... our wellness care system is to a fault big, as well complex and too active for Washington politicians to 'fix' in one piece of statute law." The authors cite the health care proposal of presumptive Democratic presidential campaigner Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) as a "case in point." The authors write that Obama would "impose a job-killing 'play or pay' tax on every American employer; require all insurance to meet federally imposed standards; stand up a government-run insurance option built on arbitrary price controls with tens of millions of enrollees; and pile massive new federal entitlements on top of the unaffordable ones he does aught about."
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) "has a far better plan," the authors write. McCain acknowledges that "too much centralized regime control would put quality care at risk" and "favors a decentralized reform, with families exercising more power and control over their health care decisions," according to the authors. In increase, they spell, McCain "would convert today's tax druthers for employer-paid premiums into a refundable tax deferred payment, which would foster the competition to deliver better coverage and services at a get down cost."
Recommendations
However, "even if Mr. McCain wins the presidential election, it testament be difficult to pass a market-oriented plan in a Democratic Congress," and conservatives should prepare to "offer naturalistic options for covering segments of the uninsured regular as they continue to push for the McCain reform vision," according to the authors. They urge the ecesis of a "new, private-sector option for job seekers" who deficiency health indemnity or an "option to stay in a former employer's health plan" in which "employers arranged for the reportage to be funded in advance -- well before the fiscal distress of unemployment hits" (Andres/Capretta, Washington Times, 8/14).
Reprinted with kind permission from hTTP://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email bringing at hTTP://www.kaisernetwork.
