Better plan has already been offered
BY STEVEN B. LARCHUCK
REVIEW AND OPINION
The Patriot-News
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Now that Gov. Ed Rendell has finally, but effectively, made the case that health care has reached a critical point, we can move to the business of how best to meet this challenge. However, without getting buried in the minutia of the governor’s plan, there are glaring omissions that show he is still on the low end of the learning curve.
For starters, Rendell should stop referring to his proposal as universal health care or anything close to it. A universal health plan would provide comprehensive protection to every Pennsylvanian. His plan is, at best, a Band-Aid built on the impossibly optimistic belief that private insurers will be able to do something they have never done before: create and efficiently manage a comprehensive package of health care benefits at a reasonable cost.
Health insurers are not part of the solution, they are part of the problem. By many estimates, 20 percent or more of our premium dollars go up in smoke with competing insurers spending lavishly on advertising, lobbying, underwriting, claims processing, eligibility determinations, sales commissions, executive salaries, excessive reserves and even inaugural balls. The solution is a single-payer system with a publicly owned and controlled health care trust fund that eliminates the insurance companies and redirects those wasted dollars toward actual health care. To his credit, Rendell has repeatedly and publicly stated that if the General Assembly passes a single-payer plan, he will sign it. For reasons beyond understanding, he has failed to stand tall against the insurance lobby and propose a single-payer solution.
Another omission is the governor’s failure to break the obsolete and unpopular linkage between one’s health care coverage and their job. Is there anyone who actually likes it this way? In truth, most employers are bone tired of the paperwork, annually haggling with insurers over rates and the unfairness of a system that grants a competitive advantage to those who choose not to provide employee health benefits.
Rendell also fails to provide a fairer approach to compensating the victims of medical errors and complications. “Defensive medicine,” the practice of ordering clinically unnecessary tests to avoid being second guessed later, adds substantially to the cost of health care. Meanwhile, the burden of malpractice insurance is driving specialists out of the state or into early retirement. If this dilemma is not addressed soon, we can add a crisis of availability to the existing crisis of access.
Fortunately, Pennsylvania already has proposed legislation that exceeds the goals of Rendell’s plan. In 2006, 10 percent of the General Assembly co-sponsored SB1085 and HB2722, the Balanced and Comprehensive Health Reform Act, a universal and single-payer proposal ignored by Rendell while he ran for re-election.
This plan, soon to be reintroduced as the Family and Business Health Care Security Act of 2007, would assure that every Pennsylvanian has medical, dental, optical, mental health, prescription drug, substance abuse and long-term care coverage This legislation can also liberate Pennsylvania business from the unwanted burden and expense of managing health care plans. All businesses would be on equal footing as they contribute 10 percent of payroll to the health care trust. As an added bonus, employers will see a dramatic reduction in workers’ compensation premiums.
Employees would contribute 3 percent of their income knowing that their entire family would be protected without the added expense of co-payments or deductibles. For a household earning $40,000 per year, this is only $100 per month and the whole family would be protected. This is considerably less than the $280 per month a worker without employer benefits would pay under the governor’s plan to cover the employee alone
For doctors and hospitals, the Health Care Security Act would eliminate malpractice insurance premiums. Not just reduce the cost, eliminate them. In addition, our dysfunctional malpractice litigation system would be replaced by a no-fault program that assures fast and fair compensation to those injured by their care without the expense or delay of lawyers or courtrooms.
Governor, there is no need to reinvent the health care reform wheel. The Family and Business Health Care Security Act of 2007 is the better option and is just waiting for your support.
STEVEN B. LARCHUCK is co-chairman of the Health Education & Legislative Progress Fund of Pennsylvania Inc.