As any healthcare reform debate progresses, it is important to remember that major societal reforms ultimately succeed or fail based on how well they work in real life. That is why the views of those who are most directly impacted should be given substantial weight, often outweighing the wisdom of presumed experts.
Health reform is about putting our country back on solid ground economically and fiscally. It focuses on reducing government overspending and cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare program, private insurance marketplaces and hospitals. It ensures no American is discriminated against for having a pre-existing condition, and it puts the nation on a sustainable path by ending the unsustainable growth of Medicaid and Medicare.
Expand access to affordable coverage with premium tax credits, auto-enrollment and reinsurance. Promote state innovation in individual and small-group markets by allowing them to add coverage for sex-based differences in health needs, address care gaps and/or offer new benefits such as telehealth visits and maternity and newborn care.
Provide doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals with the flexibility they need to focus on consumers’ needs. Reduce red tape by eliminating overlapping regulations and removing a distortion in the tax code that unfairly favors employer-based coverage over private market alternatives.
Create a unified insurance market, reducing the complexity of today’s rigidly segmented Medicare, Medicaid, ERISA, large-group, small-group and individual markets. Make health care prices meaningful and transparent by tying physician Medicare reimbursements to quality metrics and eventually eliminating the current opacity of hospital and private insurance rates.