Posts Tagged ‘HealthCare’
Since last spring, the noisy and sometime rancorous health-care-reform debate has kept all eyes and ears on Washington. It now appears the probability is high that a health-care-reform bill will be signed by President Obama. Given what our state is contemplating with respect to the next round of budget cuts, I think some sharp focus on health care in Arizona is needed – now.
Gov. Jan Brewer has rightfully placed all options on the table in her difficult and, at times, bruising work with other state leaders to address what is approaching a $2 billion shortfall in our state budget.
This includes a request by the governor to all state agencies asking for plans that will cut each agency’s budget by 15 percent. A significant part of these reductions will come from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) and other state health programs. AHCCCS is Arizona’s Medicaid program.
At first blush, a 15 percent AHCCCS reduction may seem like a necessary although painful action that we must take. However, the math behind a 15 percent cut at AHCCCS isn’t so straightforward. It is critical that our state’s leaders and the general public appreciate the fact that every dollar spent in AHCCCS is matched by $3 from the federal government. The real formula that would quickly emerge from a 15 percent reduction by AHCCCS is cut one dollar and lose three more.
The elimination of Arizona’s KidsCare program also is being contemplated. If this insurance is eliminated for 47,000 children in Arizona, we will not save a dime for the people of this state. Once uninsured, many of these children will need health care, but they will become at-risk for delayed care due to the cost of that care.
Routine health care matters. Illness or injury left untreated can quickly evolve into serious or even catastrophic health-care issues. As a result, many of these children eventually will get their care in the most expensive health-care settings – ERs and hospital rooms. A great deal of the costs for this care will then be shifted to Arizona’s insured consumers.
If we assume that national health-care reform will significantly cover more people, we also should assume it will take many years for this coverage to be implemented. In my view, retaining KidsCare until another plan becomes available makes good sense for Arizona.
Another cut being proposed is a 30 percent reduction in the state’s contribution to Graduate Medical Education. This cut ultimately could reduce the number of physicians in the state.
Hard decisions must be made to address the state’s climbing budget shortfall, and all of us must be part of the solution. Our governor and Legislature deserve that support. However, decisions that look good on paper or even on a budget spreadsheet in the short term, can prove highly damaging to the state’s fiscal health and people’s physical health in the long term.
The United States Senate seems headed for a vote on a nearly $1 trillion health-care overhaul.
We all recognize the need to change the current system of delivering and financing health care â?? in order to ensure quality and to make coverage more affordable.
The problem is that there is no evidence that the current proposals in Congress will make those needed improvements for Louisianians. In fact, studies by respected organizations have shown that current congressional proposals would result in the people of our state paying significantly more for their health coverage.
The Senate proposal would create an expensive new bureaucracy, levy more taxes on the backs of working citizens and make cuts to Medicare that would mean higher costs borne by our stateâ??s seniors. If the current proposals are signed into law, health-care costs will rise at an even faster rate. This simply is not the kind of solution Louisiana can afford.
Louisianaâ??s health plans support health reform and have pledged changes to their business model to make health care more affordable and accessible for everyone. Some time ago we committed to Congress that we would help adopt pro-consumer rules and sweeping protections that would remove restrictions on pre-existing conditions, end the practice of basing premiums on health status or gender, and help achieve universal coverage.
Health plans cannot support, however, proposed changes that would harm individuals and families already enrolled, and small businesses that have acted responsively in offering coverage to their employees.
It appears that U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., will soon have the opportunity to vote on whether: 1) to approve health-care changes some political leaders consider their legacy, but that the majority of citizens of our state do not want and cannot afford; or 2) to ask their congressional colleagues to take the time to develop true health-care reform that addresses affordability and quality. The choice each one makes will speak loudly here at home.
Our country and state need health-care reform that will make health insurance more affordable and that will expand access to the uninsured. Unfortunately, Congressâ?? current version of health-reform fails to get the job done. Letâ??s take a step back and consider health-care reform that will work.
U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said Democrats are working to create a “dependency class” in America in an effort to expand their political base and stay in power.
“That’s part of the motive,” King said when discussing federal health-care reform efforts with reporters after a Tuesday taping of Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press.”
King, who represents Iowa’s 5th District, said he will do what he can to try stop a health-care bill from heading to President Barack Obama’s desk, and he urged others who opposed the bill to join him.
He said Democrats are moving toward nation health care, whether a public insurance option is included in the final bill or not.
“That’s the goal; that’s the endeavor,” King said. “They’ll regulate everything, and when they do that, we will lose the liberty we have today to buy health insurance policies.”
He predicted that if Congress passes health-care reform, Democrats will pay a price at the ballot box in 2010.
“I’ve never seen this kind of energy in America, this kind of uprising, especially from the heart of the heartland of America,” King said.
King said he is worried about the “mindset” drifting into America that doesn’t seem to understand the free-enterprise system.
“We’re descendants in this part of the country from people who came across America in covered wagons,” King said. “I mean, they came here to live free or die on the prairie. They didn’t ask for a government handout.”
Norm Sterzenbach, executive director of the Iowa Democratic Party, called King’s comments hypocritical.
“Before he rails against Democrats for working to help seniors pay for prescriptions and help students afford college, he should consider giving up his government salary, as other members of Congress have,” Sterzenbach said.
King, a four-term congressman, said he plans to seek another term in 2010. Iowa is expected to lose one of its congressional seats, and King said he probably still will seek re-election in 2012 even if redistricting places him in the same district with another member of Congress.
As Iowa Republicans look to unseat Gov. Chet Culver next year, King said he did not know whether he would endorse one of the candidates in the GOP primary.
“I’d like to see them fight this out, because it tests their vigor, and it tests their ability, and it also shapes the policy for Republicans that will be matched up against the policy that’s been set by Gov. Culver,” King said.
The “Iowa Press” featuring King is scheduled to air at 7:30 p.m. Friday and noon Sunday on Iowa Public Television.