If the court rejects ObamaCare, Democratic strategist James Carville said this week, "then the Republican Party will own the health care system for the foreseeable future." He meant it as a warning; in fact, it's a historic opportunity.
For too long, Democrats have defined the health care issue, depicting the U.S. system as an unfettered market where costs run wild, insurers rip off consumers and deny coverage to tens of millions, and big-government "reforms" are desperately needed. None of it is true.
First, the health care system was on the mend — with spending and premium costs trending downward for years — before ObamaCare brought this progress to a screeching halt.
Second, liberals have exaggerated the uninsured problem for decades to justify more government involvement — a point we've made repeatedly in this space.
Third, the problems that do exist — including the uninsured — are largely the result of too much government.
Tax policies, for example, discriminate against individuals who want to buy coverage on their own, leaving most locked into whatever plans their companies offer, limiting choice and competition. And tax rules encourage third-party payment for health care, boosting demand by consumers who don't bear any of the direct costs of their health care decisions.
Federal rules also bar people from shopping for plans across state lines, or forming groups on their own to pool resources. State-mandated benefits add tremendously to the cost of coverage.
And Medicare's top-down price controls shift massive costs onto private payers.
At the same time, lenient liability laws sparked an explosion in litigation and defensive medicine, which push up costs.
All this government meddling makes insurance more expensive, putting it out of reach for millions who would otherwise happily buy coverage.
Nor is there any shortage of free-market health care solutions. Among them:
• End the tax discrimination against individual insurance buyers.
• Let consumers buy plans across state lines, giving states an incentive to rein in their out-of-control benefit mandates.
• Let small groups establish association health plans to get benefits of scale.
• Ease the rules that are choking off the medical savings account market.
• Reform the nation's tort laws.
The Supreme Court debate this week exposed the left's health care vision in all its glory — one that relies on massive federal spending and unprecedented intrusiveness into every aspect of our lives.
This June, Republicans may very well have the chance to offer an alternative vision that relies instead on free markets, consumer choice and open competition to improve what is already the world's best health care system.
They need to be ready.
http://news.investors.com/article/606118/201203291839/republican-must-offer-health-reform-ideas.htm
For too long, Democrats have defined the health care issue, depicting the U.S. system as an unfettered market where costs run wild, insurers rip off consumers and deny coverage to tens of millions, and big-government "reforms" are desperately needed. None of it is true.
First, the health care system was on the mend — with spending and premium costs trending downward for years — before ObamaCare brought this progress to a screeching halt.
Second, liberals have exaggerated the uninsured problem for decades to justify more government involvement — a point we've made repeatedly in this space.
Third, the problems that do exist — including the uninsured — are largely the result of too much government.
Tax policies, for example, discriminate against individuals who want to buy coverage on their own, leaving most locked into whatever plans their companies offer, limiting choice and competition. And tax rules encourage third-party payment for health care, boosting demand by consumers who don't bear any of the direct costs of their health care decisions.
Federal rules also bar people from shopping for plans across state lines, or forming groups on their own to pool resources. State-mandated benefits add tremendously to the cost of coverage.
At the same time, lenient liability laws sparked an explosion in litigation and defensive medicine, which push up costs.
All this government meddling makes insurance more expensive, putting it out of reach for millions who would otherwise happily buy coverage.
Nor is there any shortage of free-market health care solutions. Among them:
• End the tax discrimination against individual insurance buyers.
• Let consumers buy plans across state lines, giving states an incentive to rein in their out-of-control benefit mandates.
• Let small groups establish association health plans to get benefits of scale.
• Ease the rules that are choking off the medical savings account market.
• Reform the nation's tort laws.
The Supreme Court debate this week exposed the left's health care vision in all its glory — one that relies on massive federal spending and unprecedented intrusiveness into every aspect of our lives.
This June, Republicans may very well have the chance to offer an alternative vision that relies instead on free markets, consumer choice and open competition to improve what is already the world's best health care system.
They need to be ready.
http://news.investors.com/article/606118/201203291839/republican-must-offer-health-reform-ideas.htm
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